


The Kissing Contest

by Icedcoffeeslut



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is a Little Shit, Adrinette, Aged-Up Character(s), Alya and Nino are Mean Judges, An Underwear Shoot???, Consequences, F/M, Frustrated cuddling, Kissing Contest, Model Adrien Agreste, Neck Kissing, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Stripping, Who Should Win, but this is complete sin, every single thing up till smut, no kissing, technically there is no smut, their classmates are obsessed, they are 18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2018-11-29 19:43:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11447763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icedcoffeeslut/pseuds/Icedcoffeeslut
Summary: *POST REVEAL*"Are you sickeningly sweet lovebirds up for the challenge?"when their classmates confront marinette and adrien for being overly affectionate, they challenge them to a kissing contest to see who can refrain from kissing the other the longest. both adrien and marinette must attempt to seduce, trick, and set up their partner so that they won't suffer the consequences of losing





	1. the kissing contest: with consequences

**Author's Note:**

> a post-reveal fic!! i hope y'all enjoy this, i had so much fun writing it and i've gotta say, post-reveal adrinette has got to be one of the most hilarious dynamics. let me know what you think ;) updates will be about every 3-5 days

Adrien and Marinette walked together through the front doors of the school building, their fingers intertwined and their hips touching as they meandered toward the hallway to their first class. They loped past the closed doors and open windows, classes prepared to begin in moments, with no hurry or quickening of pace. There simply was no need to rush, not when the world surrounding them was so peaceful. 

It was an easy morning, a morning that lulled along with the rise of the sun and opened its eyes to wake up with the heat of the day. There was no rush at all, no franticness or confusion due to quandaries of identities or comparisons, and no rush for the time to go by. There was no need for Marinette to sprint through the school door at 8:00 a.m. to stare down the back of Adrien’s head for hours on end, and there was absolutely no necessity for the day to fly by so that Chat Noir could patrol alongside the masked love of his life during the hours of darkness. It had been years since those desperate times, and the pair were in no rush at all to shuffle into their classroom by 7:59 a.m. because they were already together, their gait comfortable and their eyes adoring as they relished in the complete  _ easiness  _ of being with one another. Marinette and Adrien, Ladybug and Chat Noir. There were no conflicted feelings because fate had let them find one another in every way.

It had been this easy for nearly two years.

Adrien and Marinette laughed contentedly to one another as the bell rang, signalling the start of the day and their impending tardiness. One would assume that upon reaching eighteen years of age, it would become less difficult to learn how to be on schedule, but the undercover superheroes of Paris knew no such thing. Adrien cared  _ far  _ more about waiting outside Marinette’s front door in the morning after detouring from his own home than being to class “on time,” and Marinette cared  _ so much _ more about making sure Adrien had a bakery breakfast to begin his day than beating some school bell. 

This did mean, however, that the two were constantly causing a bit of a scene, coming in through the door late nearly every single day.

As Marinette and Adrien finally reached their classroom, the pair slipped inside several minutes past eight o’clock, still holding hands as they walked in the direction of their seats. Fortunately for them, their morning teacher chose to wait until he was also settled in to start his lesson.  _ Un _ fortunately for them, their longtime classmates were beginning to get a bit appalled by their behavior. 

“ _ My God,  _ can the two of you  _ ever  _ stop getting here late? It’s  _ exhausting. _ ”

The sarcastic voice of  Chloé Bourgeois echoed throughout the room, causing Marinette’s cheeks to flame red and Adrien’s smirk to splay across his face. Many of the students laughed at the very true statement, as what was known to the class as “Adrinette” moved closer toward their chairs. Chloé had long since dropped her crush on Adrien and despite her consistent dislike for Marinette, had matured enough to tastefully joke along with the rest of the class at the hilarious cuteness that accompanied one of the class’s favorite couples. 

“What can I say?” Adrien laughed, ‘I must have slept in again since I was so tired.”

Marinette gave him a look as the two finally settled into their seats at a chipper 8:04 a.m., her eyebrows scrunched together and her gaze curious. Adrien’s arm was wrapped casually around her shoulders as he sat beside her, and Alya, ever the cheerleader, sat her to right as their seating chart had proclaimed since the first day of the their last year. Of course her own boyfriend was placed on her other side, their friendly foursome consistently together, even in lessons. 

“And why would you be so tired, blondie?” Alya joked, shooting a playful look toward the couple next to her, “I thought that perfect model face wasn’t allowed any bags under the eyes?”

It seemed as if Adrien knew he was about to get in trouble, because he lifted his chin higher and away from Marinette for just a moment before nuzzling her hair with his nose and proclaiming, “It’s all Marinette’s fault. But I guess she can’t help it if she keeps me up all night.”

Their friends began to laugh as Adrien attempted to dive in and kiss Marinette’s hair once more, but she was far too quick and before he could even reach her, his arm was thrown from her shoulder and she was using her index finger to push his nose away from her. While she loved Adrien’s antics, she had to fight back when he thought he had the upper hand. It was the way the world worked--the way they worked. She  _ was  _ Ladybug, after all.

“Oh really?” she threw back, “I’m sure it had nothing to do with the UNDERWEAR shoot you’re doing this weekend!” 

Adrien looked ready to shoot her with the lasers in his bright green eyes as they were suddenly set aflame with passionate embarrassment. It was Marinette’s turn to wear the smirk; she folded her arms across her chest and winked at him as the class let out a collective “oooooohhhhh,” letting him know that he was in deep and that Marinette had played him well.

“Adrien, no way--”

“Oh my  _ lord,  _ you can’t  _ actually _ be doing an underwear shoot--”

“This is GOLD, this is  _ totally  _ going on my other blog!”

Adrien shot a glance around Marinette’s shoulder to Alya as she began ferociously typing on her tablet. He swiped it away from her as swiftly and as carefully as he could, then groaned as he saw that she had already posted the update.

“Really Alya?” he whined, “I thought you were supposed to be on my side  _ sometimes _ ! And did you really have to caption the post ‘Adrien Agreste Will Finally Undress’?”

With those words, Nino burst into laughter and swiped the tablet from Adrien’s grasp to see the blog update for himself. He was nearly in tears when he witnessed it in front of him, and when he glanced back over to his best friend, his laughs only became louder and more jovial.

“Okay, this is fantastic. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Nino chuckled, “Now the city will be at least be prepared. What about you, Marinette? How do you feel about this fantastic, wondrous,  _ hilarious  _ occasion-to-be?”

In between giggles, Marinette looked from her scowling boyfriend over to her best friends and wondered whether or not it was time for her to set the truth straight. Looking around at the mirthful faces of her classmates, she decided to torture her partner just a little longer.

“Oh, I couldn’t be more excited. He just told me this morning that the theme might be ‘stripper’! Can you believe it? I’ll have my very own stripper!”

With that, the rest of the classroom erupted into laughter, and Adrien was torn between burying his face into Marinette’s shoulder to hide under her hair, or acknowledging that she was actually the culprit of his sarcastic humiliation and pretending to ignore her and sulk. If he wasn’t so head over heels, he might have chosen correctly. 

Adrien faced his girlfriend and put on his best “wet kitten” pout, sticking out his bottom lip just enough that he could tell it had an effect on her when she looked at him. She reached her arms around his neck and snarkily touched his furrowed eyebrows and sore loser of a bottom lip. There was so much laughter in her large, beautiful eyes that he almost forgot he was the source of it. When he remembered that, he was almost okay with it. Almost.

“Aw, look at that little puppy dog face,” Marinette crooned, bopping him on the nose, “Does my little stripper model need a kiss?”

Of course she couldn’t call him any pet name referring to cats or kittens in public, but Adrien was still rather irritated at being called a dog in respect to his feline superhero side. At least he knew she was actually a cat person.

“As pissed off as I am at you, of course I want a kiss, I’m not crazy. I’m also  _ not  _ a puppy--”

Marinette cut him off with her lips, tightening her hold on him as he reached up to put one hand on her side. Perhaps he had actually chosen correctly or perhaps he was simply full of luck today, but the response she gave was definitely the response Adrien had hoped for. She broke the kiss for only a moment to blurt to the class of students, “The shoot won't actually be stripper themed!” then returned to his lips as their classmates groaned in disappointment. Before she could move, Adrien deepened the kiss just the tiniest bit, but not really enough to make it too inappropriate. Not really.

By no means did they ever exactly  _ plan  _ to kiss at school, but every once in awhile, Marinette just became too adorable for Adrien to quite handle, or sometimes Adrien’s hair was just ruffled like Chat Noir’s a tad too much for Marinette to not do  _ anything _ \--

“Lovebirds! HELLO? Can you come up for air for just a few seconds? Nino, I fucking swear, I don’t understand how they’re still like this every goddamn day--”

Adrien and Marinette pulled apart, only to find that their Alya and their friends were looking at them with the same exhausted expressions that Chloé had worn earlier when they walked in late. No one was necessarily annoyed, but more a mixture of amused and exasperated. But why would they be so irked? The couple was just being affectionate toward one another, weren’t they? There was no law saying that boyfriends and girlfriends couldn’t be fond of one another.

“Literally, I do not understand how on earth you two are so attached all the time,” Nino said, rolling his eyes at Adrien and Marinette, who had separated and finally chose to sit in completely separate chairs, “it’s as if you can’t stop. Like, I swear it seems as if the two of you are always late. And late together! It’s honestly not even that, it’s like… it’s like....”

“It’s as if you don’t can’t keep your hands off each other!” Alya cut in, “Ever! Like, good work keeping the relationship alive and spicy and everything, but I swear I don’t think that the pair of you could go a DAY without kissing.”

The class murmured in agreement and Adrien and Marinette gazed toward one another, shocked expressions adorning their faces. Apparently this was something most of their classmates were all aware of.

“Are you kidding?” Chloé scoffed, “They couldn’t go a  _ class period  _ without sucking each other’s faces. It’s impressive yet ridiculous.”

“Don’t get us wrong, it’s super sweet!” Rose interjected, a kind smile in her eyes, “I’m sure everyone can agree that Adrinette is the school’s power couple. But honestly… you two are crazy. I don’t know which of you is more attached to the other. Could you even go an actual day without kissing?”

Marinette looked toward Adrien, and she could sense that he was feeling the same way she was. It was rather strange for others to be so interested in their relationship but if they promoted it so much in public, they supposed it would be hard to ignore. The other feelings, the more powerful ones, were already coursing through Adrien and Marinette’s veins. They sensed competition.

“Of course we could! We’re not animals,” Marinette responded. She looked up at Adrien, who nodded vigorously and resumed to put his arm back around her shoulder. The entire class was now fixated on the topic of Marinette and Adrien’s… passion… and their teacher clearly wasn’t beginning class any time soon. Each of them felt the need to prove themselves and show that they were strong--but of course they were, they were superheroes! They were especially unstoppable when they were together, “Adrien and I are totally capable of not kissing for a while.”

Alya looked pointedly at her with sly eyes and pursed lips, “But how long is a while? That’s the question, isn’t it.”

Marinette shot Alya a look only her best friend knew how to interpret,  _ Girl, are you intentionally trying to cockblock me or something?  _ then responded with such force and fierceness that Alya was nearly caught off guard and Adrien felt as if he might need to step back outside and cool down.

“Adrien and I are unbeatable together. Name any length of time, and we’ll show you strength and control like no other.”

Adrien suddenly needed to open a window.  _ Ladybug, I know you’re all about winning but I can only handle so much here! We’re in class and you don’t even have your spots on. Dammit, don’t touch my leg  right now--we’re talking about  _ less  _ affection! _

“I don’t know though… that almost seems too easy, don’t you think?” Alya muttered back. Nino looked as if he was ready to reign her in at any moment, but he was also clearly excited about the prospect of whatever bet was about to be decided. The whole class was on its toes and ready to shout their opinion at a moment’s notice, “There needs to be some other catch than just  _ not kissing  _ for a certain amount of time.”

“I’ve got it!” shouted Alix, “What if--bear with me--they had to have a contest to see who could go the longest without kissing the other? Like, Adrien would lose if he kissed Marinette and Marinette would lose if she kissed Adrien?”

The classroom was suddenly quiet as they processed Alix’s words.

“That’s brilliant!” shouted Nino, ending the silence, and he and Alya gave one another a knowing nod, “They’re competing against  _ each other.  _ Oh man, I love this.”

“SO! The question stands,” Alya said once more, and both Adrien and Marinette’s throats dropped to the pits of their stomachs, “Are you sickeningly sweet lovebirds up for the challenge?”

Marinette first glanced at Alya with a look that she immediately knew as  _ Yep, you’re definitely cockblocking me. Thanks bestie,  _ then averted her eyes to Adrien. She felt strangely off about this new idea of Alix’s. It was one thing to compete against an akuma, a villain, or even another team. It was something completely different to go up against  _ Adrien.  _ Adrien was the yin to her yang, the model to her designer, and her other half. She tried to think of a time she had ever gone up against anything without him. How on earth was she supposed to rival him? In a kissing contest, of all things.

The pair stared one another in the eyes until they knew the other wouldn’t back down as well, and each came to the same conclusion. Because honestly, they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. More importantly, they were Marinette and Adrien. They could never face down a challenge. As usual, they responded in complete and utter unison, their voices filled with zeal.

“We’re in.”

 

***

 

“All right, now that it’s settled that this is  _ actually  _ happening, we need to break down the ground rules.”

It was lunch hour, and nearly every student was eagerly awaiting the words spouting from Alya’s mouth. Nino and Alya had, of course, taken it upon themselves to be the judges for their best friends’ contest and the classmates, nor Adrien or Marinette, had any qualms about it because there would obviously be one rooting for each of them. It was a fair deal, and everyone had immediately rushed outside the classroom doors when the first half of the day had finally come to a close and they could all sprint into the courtyard to assess the nature and lay down the laws of such a challenge. 

The couple was, to say the least, having some doubts already.

“So what exactly qualifies as kissing?” Adrien asked worriedly, “I mean… like a peck goodbye obviously doesn’t count as an actual kiss, right?”

“Nino, let’s see if we agree,” Alya replied, peering at the distressed look on Adrien’s face with partial glee and partial pity already, “I vote that a kiss can be anything from this--” Alya suddenly yanked Nino down by the collar and dragged his face down to her own. She lightly grazed her lips upon his and without even a second passing, they were apart once more, “--to this.”

Alya then wrapped her other arm around her boyfriend as well, and proceeded to kiss him once more, but this time she took her time. She deepened their kiss and Nino responded gladly, moving his hand to touch her hair and move his own mouth against hers as well. After several more moments, they resurfaced.

“And et cetera,” Alya smirked, winking back at Nino as she sauntered over to her other friends, “Anything in between and anything above. No lips.  _ At all. _ ”

“Yep,” Nino chided in, his face still rather pink, “I’m gonna have to agree.”

Adrien outwardly groaned, and Marinette shot him a look of lighthearted exasperation herself. He really was such a cat sometimes. When her gaze settled into his eyes, they looked like they were already starving, and she was reminded of how much he looked like her Chat in that moment, with his rustled blonde hair, his strong and muscular biceps, his sharp jawline…

“Wait--okay, what about kissing that’s not on the lips?”

Everyone’s eyes turned toward Marinette as she felt all of the blood in her body flush up to her face and her eyes widen in horror at the implication of her own words.  _ That was the WRONG way to put that, Marinette!  _ To be fair, it wasn’t necessarily an  _ incorrect  _ implication, but it sent their friends into a humored frenzy and she could already hear what they were all thinking. When she saw Adrien, he interestingly enough looked less embarrassed and more hopeful, as if she had found a glorious loophole. Still--she had to find a way to recover from her slip-up as quickly as possible--

“Oh my god guys don’t be gross! I mean like on the cheek or something! You are all  _ so perverted. _ ”

_ Eh, not her best, not her worst _ , but it saved her for the moment as Alya yanked Nino toward her once more but this time to deliberate just how much leniency they should allow their lovesick friends. Nino appeared to be attempting to cut them some slack, but Alya kept pointing out other things until finally he had to nod along with her and admit that she was right.

“We have discussed what the boundaries should be!” Nino announced, his voice full of condolences for the couple yet layered with heavy amusement, “There shall be no kissing at  _ all.  _ No kissing on the cheek, hand, or anywhere else. Too touchy, and let’s be real, it doesn’t serve the purpose of the contest. Sorry bros, you’re out of luck.”

_ This is just plain cruel,  _ Adrien thought as he pondered the hypocrisy of the couple’s decision after nearing making out in front of everyone,  _ I’m about to be fifteen fucking years old again and have to imagine kissing her. I can’t quit cold turkey! _

“Okay, I know this sounds ridiculous, especially regarding what this entire contest is about, but can we kiss like one last time? Just to make it a little easier?”

Nino laughed and bumped him on the shoulder with his fist as the rest of the class murmured about whether the contest had officially begun or not. He appeared, however, to take pity on Adrien as he grabbed Alya by the arms and dragged her with him to the side, “Go ahead, bro. We won’t watch,” Nino then turned to face the hoard of students around them, “WILL WE?” 

The group all silently shifted to the side and averted their gazes as Marinette took Adrien by the hand and pulled him away. They walked for only a moment before they approached a tree and Marinette yanked him underneath its branches to hide with her. Marinette took both of Adrien’s hands and looked at him, then nervously giggled. 

“So…. no kissing,” she spoke to him, and her voice sounded like honey in his ears. Sweet, but too sticky at the moment, “At all. That is, at least on my part,” her face suddenly turned snarky and she winked at him, and Adrien felt his guard descend moment by moment, “ _ You’re _ allowed to do whatever you want.  _ I,  _ however, will refrain from being a loser and won’t be kissing anyone anytime soon.”

_ Oh, she’s already playing hard to get. Two can play at that game. _

“This is going to be so hard,” Adrien stepped forward, reaching a hand into Marinette’s hair and running his fingers through it. He pressed his body against hers and dipped his head down as he used his other hand to tilt her chin up. Adrien could feel her nearly melt into him as he began to speak, “I don’t know how I’m going to be able to stop myself.”

Marinette’s eyes were flashing and Adrien felt a sharp pang of love before he leaned down to her face. She brought her gaze up and moved to kiss him, but instead he leaned down to brush his lips beside her ear in a whisper.

“Too bad I had all that practice as Chat Noir.”

He then kissed her earlobe and pulled away, just as Marinette’s burning face became fiery once more and she pushed his chest away from her, steaming in anger and passion. She crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes bore into his smirking ones as she revelled in the way he’d played her already.

_ Wow, this might be more difficult than I thought. _

“Save it for the actual contest, Kitten,” Marinette fumed, but proceeded to step into his embrace again and settle her arms upon his chest so that he was looking down at her, “You’ve only got one more kiss, so you’d better make it count.”

Adrien’s smile was off his lips as soon as the words left her mouth so that he could swoop down and capture her own. He placed his hands around her back and lifted her body ever so slightly so that she could access his lips better, and Marinette responded with fervor, opening her mouth just enough so that Adrien would take the initiative and deepen the kiss. Her lips moved against his in a steady dance, and she shifted one hand higher so that she could first run her fingers along the stubble of his jaw and then bury her hand within his wild blonde hair. He moaned ever so slightly as she scratched behind his ear with her nails, and she moved her torso just a bit to the right so that he could pull her in closer--

“Okay, SERIOUSLY? It’s been forever, let’s move it! We aren’t done yet!”

Adrien groaned once more but this time in irritation at Alya as he planted one more firm and full kiss upon his love’s lips. Marinette responded with the same enthusiasm, her pulse on fire and her mind frantic as she was forced to pull away from him. 

_ I guess no more kissing now for… however long. _

“Could you  _ be  _ more of a buzzkill today?” Adrien grumbled to his redheaded friend, and he nuzzled into the crook of Marinette’s shoulder one last time before moving away and grabbing her hand instead. Alya brought them back over to their group of friends, and Adrien noticed Nino with a peculiar look upon his face. Nino appeared triumphant as he pondered how exactly the pair would receive his next words. 

“I have come up with one more rule for the contest. But don’t worry! It doesn’t restrict anything else--I actually think you’ll both really like this,” Nino announced, and Marinette and Adrien looked questioningly up at one another and then him, “Just so that one of you doesn’t get weak and want to cave so that this will all be over, I think we should set up a set of consequences.”

There was a flurry of activity from their classmates as Alya whooped alongside her boyfriend’s good idea and the rest of their friends moved closer to praise his proposition and give their own proposals. They seemed to have quite the suggestions, as Adrien came to hear it.

“Good job, babe!” Alya cheered, “That’s perfect! Oh my Ladybug, this is about to be  _ epic.  _ Okay everyone, who has some ideas?”

Suddenly a torrent of opinions on what the consequences should be were yelled amongst the group. Chaos ensued as all of their friends blurted responses to such a request, delighting in their outrageousness.

“Marinette should have to dye her hair pink!”

“No,  _ Adrien _ should have to dye his hair pink!”

“Whoever loses can buy the other coffee every day for a month.”

“Or the rest of the year!”

“ _ Ooooh  _ what if Adrien had to wear Marinette’s clothes every Friday until the end of the term?”

“I’VE GOT IT Marinette has to kiss one of the other models Adrien has to work with--”

“OKAY, THAT’S ENOUGH,” Adrien finally interjected. That last idea had been a little too much for his soul to bear and when he saw the culprit (Kim), he flashed him a gaze filled with daggers. Kim flinched a little and cast an apologetic glance over to Adrien, scratching the back of his head nervously, but Alya and Nino were already becoming weary of the stream of propositions and they straightened, ready to shut everyone up.

“ALL RIGHTY, LISTEN UP,” Alya shouted, and the mob settled down into a dull muttering of voices and last minute ideas. She bounced around to face Marinette and Adrien once more and stared their way, addressing only them with Nino by her side, “We have now  _ also  _ deliberated that the punishments for losing should be created by the two of you. I’m sure you’ll both be able to think of something reasonable.”

Adrien and Marinette looked toward one another in relief as their eyes met. Their hands still interlocked, a silent conversation took place in which they each completely understood the message of their partner. They had the opportunity to come out alive with no scratches now, as long as they picked for each other.  _ Nothing too extreme.  _

“Well, that is quite intriguing now…” Marinette murmured, and she slid around Adrien, reaching behind him to jokingly pat Adrien’s back and sides in a fashion similar to measuring, “How about you have to be my model for the week after? Try on all of my designs and whatnot? That sounds pretty tortuous.”

There was a loud scoff coming from the front and Marinette saw that one of their judges was not having it;

“All right, no--that’s absolutely not intense enough of a punishment,” Nino interrupted, and Marinette shot him a scathing look before sidling up next to her boyfriend once again, “Adrien is literally already a model and trying on clothes his girlfriend made is something I’m sure you probably do now. We need something a bit more…  _ taxing. _ ”

Marinette groaned and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. It wasn’t as if she  _ wanted  _ to find the perfect “punishment” for her sweet, kind, caring, and gorgeous partner, but she had to think of something! She needed it to please both Adrien and be seemingly vicious enough for the entirety of the class to accept it. But why would she make her Chat do something he didn’t want to do--

“Oh trust me, she doesn’t need to measure me again. She knows my  _ size  _ already.”

Marinette’s ears suddenly burned as Adrien’s words filtered through her brain and when they registered his comment, she scoffed even more obnoxiously than Nino had and raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

“Adrien!” she exclaimed, and suddenly a wave of dominance overwhelmed her. He was attempting to get the upper hand. Marinette wouldn’t stand for this, and if he was really ready to start this here and now, she could  _ totally _ get this contest on a role. She immediately dropped the shock from her voice and carefully saturated her next words with as much of an undertone as she could.

“Well, I suppose I might know your… size… but I don’t think anyone else does. Don’t you think that’s a little bit unfair babe?”

A look of fear overcame Adrien’s face and he caught her message clear as a bell. The words were out and they couldn’t be taken back, and Adrien knew that their witnesses wouldn’t rest until Marinette’s insinuations were accompanied by a heavy consequence.  _ Dammit Agreste, WHY did you have to be a little shit at the wrong moment again? _

“Unfair might not  _ necessarily  _ be the… uh… right word--”

“Your consequence if you lose,” Marinette stated loudly and proudly in front of their friends as Adrien felt his knees nearly ready to give out, “will be to not only provide everyone here with signed photos from your underwear shoot--”

Adrien felt his throat tighten and his stomach clench.

“--but to make the theme of the shoot ‘ _ stripper’. _ ”

Marinette stunningly bright blue eyes were stormy with superiority as she looked Adrien up and down and read his reaction to her mortifying declaration. Adrien gulped and tried to hold his mental fort but he was already seeing the magazines in his mind, picturing glossy covers and the triumphant smirk playing on Marinette’s lips as she flipped through pages of him shirtless--maybe even pantless. He imagined her fingers running over the photographs, and then she would look up at him with those eyes, exactly the way they were piercing him now--

_ She’s literally just looking at me and I’m getting turned on. Is it honestly even possible for a person to be in this deep? If so, I’ll be doomed from the get-go. _

Adrien snapped his head out of the thoughts conjuring up in his mind and he made the decision that the best way to play the act was to model it out. Even though he was already embarrassingly terrified, he’d act as if he had her all figured out. He knew her just as well as she knew him, and suddenly the most perfect idea formulated in his brain.

“Fine, as long as you’re okay sharing this bod with the rest of Paris,” Adrien smirked, and while Marinette could see through his more obvious model facade, she could see that he had a trick up his sleeve as well. He sensed the hesitance in her expression, and he gracefully went in for the kill.

“But Marinette, if you lose the contest you will have to also be  _ in  _ my undershoot shoot. With me. Modelling the underwear.”

Adrien watched as her previously dominant appearance left her in an instant, and he savored every second of her undoing. She went completely white this time, and her jaw could almost be heard hitting the grassy ground as she gaped at him. Marinette was in complete shock as Adrien took the place of “upper hand” and he figured he might as well commit to the whole show if he was going to put on the first act.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d honestly be over the moon to be a part of that. So if I were you Marinette, I might as well just kiss me now and get it over with.”

Adrien’s snarky response to himself was enough to get Marinette’s engine running once more and she released the clenched position she held to march the short distance over to him and point a finger to his broad chest. Marinette glowered up at him and kept eye contact with his steady green eyes as she replied with malice.

“In your dreams. Probably literally.”

The rest of their classmates were all in a trance watching the exchange between the couple, and it first Alya was able to come back to life and make a statement.

“ _ Well,  _ I suppose we have our consequences for losing the contest all sorted out. Um… I’m gonna have you two--” Alya then dragged Marinette away from Adrien as Nino proceeded to do the same with his own best friend, “--separate for a bit while I talk, you know, just so you can cool down. I swear, there’s already that fucking sexual tension building again and it’s been like ten minutes!”

Marinette and Adrien both flushed briefly before looking to one another again. As they stood now ten feet away from each other, they each began to realize the dilemma their momentary passion had brought them into. Here they now had very real consequences for their actions, and they respectively knew that each of them would try as hard as they possibly could to win this game. Marinette would not be  _ modelling  _ anytime soon (especially underwear of all things!) and Adrien would absolutely  _ not  _ be doing anything close to stripping in front of a camera. This was as real of a competition as it could be, and the each half of the couple was determined to come out victorious. Whatever it took.

“All right, Alya.”

“Okay, we’re ready.”

There was a collective rush of energy that ran through the entire group of students standing on the lawn and before anyone else could move, the leader grabbed Nino to have him record the time on his phone. Adrien and Marinette shot one another intense yet apprehensive expressions just as Alya announced her final statement as a rule maker.

“Great,” Alya proclaimed, “As of this moment, the Adrinette kissing contest has officially begun! For both of your sakes, keep your lips sealed!”


	2. it's hard to strip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all the wonderful feedback! i must say, the first chapter was more of a less interesting prologue than anything, and now it's time for the REAL fun ;) this chapter is much more along the lines of the story's general feel and humor, and y'all should expect a lot more like this. enjoy!
> 
> Current poll:  
> Adrien: 6  
> Marinette: 4

The remaining hours of the school day crept by as Adrien and Marinette, along with all of their classmates, silently buzzed with the prospect of the contest. The class periods had been achingly long and the couple felt as though they were constantly being observed by their peers. Word had spread quickly throughout the day and they both felt sure that their challenge had reached the ears of nearly every person in their grade. Their nervousness was so heavy that the pair had each unknowingly spent their entire last lesson on the edge of their respective seats. When the final bell rang throughout the room drowning out the sound of their teacher’s voice, Marinette and Adrien both bounced up out of their chairs and spun to face each other, minds amiss.

“Hey there!”

“Hey--so…”

Marinette laughed anxiously while Adrien reached up to run a hand through his hair, jumpy but excited that class was over nonetheless. Marinette recalled with a start what she had been so eagerly awaiting earlier that day, and Adrien appeared to come to the same remembrance at that instant as well.

They were supposed to hang out that day after class.

To study.

_ To study.... _

“Sooo….” Adrien repeated after her, and he finally settled his skittishness by reaching out to hold her left hand in his right and giving it a light squeeze, “We still okay to study today? I mean, like, right now?”

Marinette’s eyes softened a shade, but she could tell that Adrien remained as confused and rather excited as she was. This kissing contest was no doubt about to change the nature of their relationship, and while she knew that it would not necessarily affect their feelings in any way, there would be a sharp increase in both competitiveness between the two (as if there wasn’t enough already) and physicality. Rather than the relaxed, easy time she normally spent every waking--and sleeping--second with Adrien, she would now have to persistently be on her toes and ready for anything he threw at her. The air around them practically buzzed.

“Yeah, of course,” Marinette replied, a barely susceptible caution edging her voice, “Yeah, we can head over now! I’m sure I can snag us some pastries like usual too.”

Adrien immediately sighed at her normalcy, luckily not quite catching on to the tone of her words, and for the briefest of moments he appeared as if he was leaning in, his eyelids about to close and his lips ready to part. At such a moment, he would usually dive in to give Marinette a chaste and sweet kiss when she offered him anything. When she spoke in such a way that Adrien felt cared for and loved, it was normally without any hesitation that he gave Marinette the softest peck in return--nothing inappropriate--just a sweet gesture.

Well, he couldn’t exactly do _ that  _ anymore.

Adrien pulled away the second he caught himself leaning in and Marinette’s eyelids fluttered at the change in routine, the change in their atmosphere. Marinette was no longer necessarily his to love, adore, and dote on, and Adrien’s brain shifted gears as he began to realize precisely what game he was now playing. 

She was now his to  _ seduce. _

Adrien, fast as lightning, dropped the gentle expression adorning his face and replaced it with one that could only be described as a smoulder. He let his eyes drop down to the ground and let his messy bangs fall into the front of his face exactly as he did when he was modelling in his more…  _ spicy _ shoots. He then raised his green eyes up to meet hers in a playfully alluring manner, biting the side of his lip as he circled the top of her hand with his thumb. He knew Marinette, knew what made her tick and what she found adorable. Adrien felt his confidence spike as his mind was filled with all that he actually, truly  _ knew  _ about his partner and suddenly it felt all too easy to win this contest. Even if he ordinarily  _ was _ unlucky.

The gears in Adrien’s mind whirred as he abruptly hatched his first evil plan. He was conscious of the fact that he would be pushing it with this next move, but maybe he could end this crazy game before it even truly began and before Marinette could form a strategy. He made the decision and hoped it would be worth it.

“Sounds perfect,” Adrien crooned. He then snatched up her backpack along with his own and made his way around the desk, pulling Marinette easily with him. He raised a hand in farewell to Alya and Nino, who both shot snarky glances at the two of them, and darted out the door with his girlfriend in tow before anyone else in their class could follow, shouting “See you later,  _ judges. _ ” 

Before Marinette knew it, she was dragged out of the classroom and into the hallway by Adrien, and he had brought her to a side wall with no one in sight. The sunlight was peeking through the window inside and she could smell Adrien’s cologne, he was so close to her.  _ Stupid contest _ , she thought, and she backed up against the wall, nearly cornered by her boyfriend. It looked, however, that he had planned for this. 

Adrien reached out to her face and cupped her cheek, tracing it slowly with his thumb while he gazed into her eyes. Marinette was already feeling herself melt, but she was determined to remain strong and even plug her nose if that was what it took not to breath in his devastatingly attractive scent.  _ Keep it together. There isn’t a thing about him you can’t decipher immediately. You’ve got to keep the upper hand! _

“It appears I’m already a bit… antsy,” Adrien lilted to her, and Marinette could nearly feel her bones turn to jelly.  _ You dumbass, why did you have to pick a literal MODEL? Why couldn’t you have picked a nice lifeguard or something?   _ “It’s as if knowing that I can’t have you makes everything a little… harder… for me.”

_ God fucking dammit, you’re really playing that card.  _ Marinette’s vision was about to go fuzzy as she felt him tuck her hair behind her ear, then lean his face down toward her own. Adrien dropped his head down to bring himself closer, and she could actually feel the presence of his lips so close to her burning the tiny space in between them. 

“Poor kitty,” she mumbled back, her invisible ropes slipping from her grasp, “Is the competition al--already getting to you? Might as well give up now before I make it even har--harder.”

Marinette felt embarrassment and agony at her own cringiness course through her as she imagined how she must have looked to him: attempting to flirt back but clearly struggling after such little pressure. She needed to hold her ground, but she could tell it would take some practice with restraining herself before this was easy. Little did she know, Adrien’s  _ situation _ was becoming all the more true as he watched her stutter (aw, just like old times) in front of him and  _ pun back to him _ . He should have known she’d counter him right back, and he could feel his own walls begin to drop--he needed to play this hand quickly. It was then with a whisper that he spoke, serenely and enticingly.

“Oh, you’ll always be affecting me,  _ My Lady _ ,” and then he was completely and entirely Chat Noir, slinky and sultry, his eyes glittering in a heavy passion and his teeth showing as he grinned comfortably at Marinette. He was just about to use the idea that had sparked in his mind--surprise her with the Chat magic while she was still Marinette before she had time to adjust-- and he motioned to bring her soft hand up to his lips. He knew this would get her, this easiness, a heroically usual and miraculous kiss upon her fingers--

“Wait DAMMIT,” Adrien exclaimed, and whipped his head away from her fingers as sharply as he could. He turned to the side and smacked himself in the forehead, berating himself for so easily and so quickly forgetting the rules of the game.  _ How could he be so stupid? The kissing of her HAND was off limits too!  _ Adrien whipped back around to face his girlfriend, and she looked as if she was holding back a laugh, with her own palms covering her mouth. 

“You silly, horny cat! You already forgot the rules,” Marinette chuckled, then she burst into full blown laughter, her eyes full of gleeful pity as she reached toward him to boop his nose, “I appreciate the thought, but don’t you think this would be more fun if we got a little longer than three hours?”

With that note, Marinette smirked at him and grabbed her backpack from around his shoulder, wrapping it around her own back, and sauntered off toward the end of the hallway to enter the courtyard. Adrien grumbled as he slung his own bag all the way around his back and followed her, sporting a scowl and a slight look of relief at not already losing as they finally reached the steps and headed in the direction of the bakery. He glared at his girlfriend when she turned around, and it was then, with the shittiest smirk on her face, that she spoke.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I think there’s some leftovers cookies from the batch we made this morning. Let’s hope they haven’t already gotten too  _ hard. _ ”

 

***

 

The air was heavy and charged. They were sweating as the ambience surrounding them and their positioning on Marinette’s couch made every second of their  _ game  _ a little more electric. Adrien could nearly  _ taste  _ the intensity of the moment as he and Marinette lay there, felt one another up, challenged each other. And when Marinette suddenly made that little moaning noise…

“Mmmm… that’s right! It worked, I beat you  _ again.” _

Adrien groaned as the screen lit up on Marinette’s television, announcing him the loser for the seventeenth time in a row. He knew he was more than good at Ultimate Mecha Strike III, but Marinette always handed his flaunting ass right back to him when it came to video games. Especially this one. Adrien slumped down against his girlfriend’s couch cushions from the seat next to her and stuck his lip out, pouting.

Upon arriving at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, the couple had fallen back into their usual routine. Sabine had greeted them with a fresh plate of pastries and croissants, and they had proceeded to engage in some small talk before heading upstairs. Marinette kissed her mother on the cheek before bounding toward her room, and Adrien gave his second-favorite woman (only to Marinette) a kind “thank you” and a wave before following his Lady’s tracks and meeting her there.

There had been a bit of a culture shock at first.

“So… we could study.”

“We could,” Marinette responded, her voice a tad too tight, “We absolutely could. Or… _ ” _

Adrien looked at her in surprise.  _ There’s no way she wants to initiate something right now. Even though we had that plan previously, there’s not a chance in the world she’s actually about to say-- _

“We could play video games? I haven’t had the chance to whoop your butt in quite a while, and that’s definitely a better way to spend the time than…. studying.”

“Good idea!” Adrien yelped back at her, mentally reprimanding himself for not only thinking of the possibilities he wish he had but also for being naive enough to think she’d already momentarily forget or even plan to get him to kiss her.

_ Was that her plan?  _ Adrien then wondered, his mind a constant mix of confusion and emotions,  _ Would she really try to get me to kiss her by initiating a makeout session HERSELF? That’s kind of brilliant….  _

Maybe he could try that.

“Okay! I already have Ultimate Mecha Strike III in the console, are you down for a round of the classics?” Marinette gave Adrien a gaze of competition once more and for whatever obvious reason, he began to feel as if this would be their primary dynamic for the next long while.

Fast forward forty-five minutes and Marinette was clearly still unstoppable at the video game, even against the very skilled and very experienced model. Marinette knew why she always came out on top however ( _ of course she didn’t mean on top of Adrien! Well… they usually stuck to about half and half),  _ and it was due to their superhero relationship. With Ladybug as the creator and Chat Noir as the destroyer, it only made sense that she would be strategic in battle. Her plans were always well thought out and organized before she actually executed them, and her Lucky Charm helped her with that. To contrast, Chat Noir was always a little bit more… reactive. He used his surroundings to make his moves and he played defensively unless he was using his powers. Chat was instantaneous, and Ladybug was calculated. 

Most of the time, her plans ended up in success.

“This is just rude,” Adrien groaned, and he flopped his head into Marinette’s lap, his face full of dramatic defeat and a hand strewn across his forehead in despair. He was being a melodramatic cat, but Marinette had become so accustomed to his playful fits, she’d come to find them endearing. Love was a strange thing. “We need a different game. One that I can find some way to wreck you in. This one is RIGGED. I don’t know how you do it, but that FightStick of yours must have some type of special chip in it or something.”

“Aw kitty, I sometimes forget what a sore loser you are,” Marinette laughed, with her seemingly common smirk splayed all across her face, “It’s a shame I couldn't kiss you to make you feel better. It’s really just  _ cat- _ astrophic.”

“NO.”

Marinette jerked her head back and Adrien yanked his own out from his girlfriend’s lap in a manner of defiance. He was outwardly enraged, but the pink tint of his cheeks and the slight flexing of his biceps were telltale signs that his frustration came from somewhere else.

“ _ No,  _ you do NOT get to pun to me when we are in this situation,” Adrien practically growled, his voice becoming raspy and feral and not at all unappealing to Marinette, “ _ Especially  _ not cat puns. Nope. No way. This is cheating--I CALL CHEATER. It’s just distasteful really--”

“Oh my god, fine!” Marinette interjected, her tone full of amused contempt, and she threw her hands up to shake them in ridicule, “If you’re that--what, turned on?--by me making freaking  _ cat puns _ of all things then I won’t! I won’t use it as a tactic in my very precise and very drawn out master plan to make you kiss me, you crazy chaton--”

Suddenly Adrien dove at Marinette, attacking his favorite spot between her neck and shoulder. At first she thought he was about to kiss that place, his passion overwhelming him like usual, but she was softened to find that he was simply nuzzling his nose into her hair, his arms tightening securely around her middle and his breath tickling her ear.

“Thaaaank you, Princess,” he lilted, using her old nickname. She warmed to him even more and snuggled her cheek against his wildly messy hair in affection. “I love you.”

“Aw Kitten, I love you too.”

Then they lay there, peaceful and content, as Adrien rested his face in his most adored little crook and Marinette welcomed the warmth that radiated from her boyfriend’s muscular figure. They stayed close and contact, breathing steadily and deeply as one, while Marinette brought one hand up to run her hands through Adrien’s blonde locks and scratch the place his ears would have been were he transformed as Chat Noir. With Tikki and Plagg constantly zooming off together when the couple were out of class, Marinette and Adrien were given time to themselves, and this quiet, precious moment was both necessary and intimate.

Then it got a  _ little _ more intimate.

When Marinette gave a heavy sigh, Adrien felt and watched the swell of her chest move up and down. His minty breath at the side of her neck was making her skin tingle in the most pleasurable of ways and suddenly Adrien was running his fingers along her sides, where they had previously been draped over her stomach. She scraped her nails across his scalp and she felt him shudder as she ran them down to his neck and back up into his hair. Their faces were close, but not close enough, and when Adrien let a thumb slide under the edge of Marinette’s tank top and then ghost across the bottom of her belly, he could actually  _ hear  _ her whimper. 

_ God,  _ he wanted to kiss her neck.

Good LORD did  _ she _ want him to kiss her neck.

They stayed in the same position, breaths intermingling and bodies completely tangled yet still  _ so far away  _ from one another. Adrien was already furrowing his eyebrows in frustration, and Marinette was no better, biting her lip to keep the sensation of his face so close to the side of her neck from allowing her to do something she’d regret. 

This  _ fucking  _ contest.

“This is sweet,” Marinette whispered to Adrien, and it  _ killed  _ him, physically harmed his  _ soul  _ that he couldn’t drag his lips and teeth over that sweet spot he knew she loved so that he could make her voice even lighter and raspier. She was his muse, and goddamnit if it wasn’t his mission in life to make his muse would sing. “This is--this is so nice.”

“Yep,” Adrien replied, his voice also heady and noticeably filled to the brim with desire.  _ He was a goner.  _ “Yep, this is so nice. Just fine.  _ You’re  _ so fine.”

_ Shit.  _ Marinette was letting herself get caught up. She couldn’t let this normalcy remain, she needed to keep calm and collected! It was proving impossible, however, as Adrien’s nose kept nudging her earlobe in that way she adored and his index and middle fingers were now gliding and tracing along her waist and hip, playing with the band of her jeans. Where was that resolve? Where was her cool?

“Oh my GOD just fucking  _ KISS MY NECK ALREADY. _ ”

Clearly not here.

“God  _ fuck  _ DON’T YOU THINK I WANT TO.”

Well, it was enlightening to hear that Adrien was going through similar issues.

“This is  _ absurd!”  _ Marinette yelled, shooting upward from her position on the couch. Adrien jerked up next to her, and they came to sit, facing one another with their faces distraught, lustful, and angry, “We are literally girlfriend and boyfriend, why is it SO BAD if we kiss! What is the  _ harm?”  _

“Exactly! You tell me,” Adrien responded, and it was with that that he rose up from the cushions to stand by the couch, away from her, “You’re my girlfriend, so why shouldn’t I kiss you?”

“You tell me! Why shouldn’t you kiss me?”

Adrien hesitated. He knew he was on very thin ice here, and with one little mistake it would all shatter to tiny shards. He knew that he and Marinette were feeling the same physical and emotional sensations, but he also knew that there was no way in HELL he was about to lose this competition so quickly. He had to be strong. He had to be  _ strong goddamnit don’t look at her boobs.  _

“Well, why shouldn’t you kiss me?”

Oh, he had fucked up  _ he fucked up he fucked up he fucked up  _ because now Marinette saw, through their shared distress, the other part of Adrien’s plan that she should have suspected all along. She saw the part of him that was already playing the game, her defeat his priority, and she understood in an instant what his tactic entailed. That mangy cat was trying to get  _ her  _ to make the move! Even if he had wanted to make the initial one, he was attempting to trick her into caving first.  _ No way,  _ Marinette thought, her face now a mask of obliviousness,  _ Not on my watch. _

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Marinette spoke, her voice breathy. She sat up from the couch as well, grabbing one of his hands to make him help her up, and she wrapped her other hand around his neck, twisting and pulling the wavy hair that reached the end of his head. She could see and hear Adrien gulp, his nervousness now all the more apparent as she realized he was worried.  _ But was he worried that she had discovered his plan or worried that he might break and kiss her?  _

She guessed she’d have to find out.

“It is really hot in here now,” Marinette whispered, and she scratched behind his actual ear this time, exhibiting another shudder from her unmasked Chat, “I think we should get more comfortable, because this game is just  _ ridiculous  _ and I am already over it. Don’t you feel the same, Kitty?”

With those words Marinette, still pressed flush against her forbidden boyfriend, lightning fast crossed her arms across her stomach to grab each side of her tank top and yank it off and over her head. Before Adrien could register her actions, Marinette had successfully removed her shirt and was left in only her shiny black bra, and she slid both her arms around his neck once more. His eyes went foggy and his vision blurred as he realized that he was no match for this seductress. If she kissed him,  _ great,  _ but he knew that to win, she had to do the actual kissing and it looked like she was planning for him to make the next move. She’d had her turn and now it was his. 

But of course he couldn’t kiss her!

_ Okay, Agreste, think fast. You can’t actually give her a kiss, but you CAN make another move. What can you do that is both reasonably fair in respect to her taking her shirt off and that would also be expected from a teenage guy whose girlfriend is now shirtless in front of him? _

The answer smacked him in the face before he could even register it fully, but he had to act quick.

“I like where this is going,” Adrien grinned, and his classic Cheshire smile stretched upon his face, eyes daring and smile startlingly brilliant. Before Marinette could bat another eye, Adrien had followed her exact movements and hoisted his own muscle T-shirt over his head, balled it up, and thrown it across the room. He looked down at her then and whispered, “Of course this game is just  _ ridiculous _ .”

Marinette was stumped. She’d executed her plan perfectly and pulled it off (pun intended) just as she had wanted, but he had countered right back. This was their normal dynamic but to make matters worse, it was her move and she now had a very  _ gorgeous _ , very  _ shirtless _ , and very  _ riled up  _ Adrien Agreste less than two inches from her and they were both shirtless. His lips were just a stretch away, and his arms had fallen down to rest upon the small of her back, sending waves of heat running through her body in a very  _ frustratingly nice  _ way. What could she do? Where on earth could she go from here?

_ Desperate times call for desperate measures.  _

Marinette, ever the quick (and clearly rational) thinker, kept her eyes locked in contact with Adrien’s piercing green ones as she bit her bottom lip and reached down to undo the button of her jeans. She blinked purposefully at him as she then undid the pants’ zipper and pulled her jeans all the way down her long legs and stepped completely out of them. Holding them in one hand, she then threw the jeans across the room just as Adrien had with his shirt, far away, out of sight, and showed that they were obviously unimportant. She watched as Adrien’s pupils dilated and his mouth came partially open, but less than a second later it snatched shut once more. 

“Then let’s just forget about the whole thing, shall we?” she smirked.

She had played a good card, even if reaching, and she only wished to hear Adrien’s thoughts aloud right then. They were:

_ WHAT THE FUCK WHAT DO I DO. _

Adrien was panicked. It was one thing to be making out, the heat of the moment making everything romantic and then removing clothes, article by article, as they kissed. It was  _ another  _ to be in the middle of a fierce competition with your superhero significant other who literally refuses to relent in any way and who was now almost  _ naked  _ in front of him. It took all of the power in him not to drift his eyes down to her long, muscular legs, her toned calves, her thighs--

_ No, Agreste KEEP IT TOGETHER.  _ Adrien’s brain was frantic, his mind boggled.  _ He couldn’t kiss her!  _ But she had just stripped off her shirt and pants?  _ But he has to win the contest.  _ But what if Marinette doesn’t actually care about the contest and wants to kiss him?  _ Couldn’t he stop being a hormonal teenager for one FUCKING minute-- _ well, apparently not when his very hot girlfriend was half naked in front of him--

Marinette then watched in horror, delight, and irritation and Adrien’s eyes widened in distress and his hands went to the waistband of his own pants. He fumbled with the buttons of his khakis as he nearly tripped, and hurriedly continued undoing the zipper until he could yank them off. Adrien stumbled out of the legs of the pants one by one and then, with the modelesque grace of a cat with two injured legs, he tossed the behind him over his shoulder. The khakis landed on the television screen, hanging over the box as if they were there to dry or possibly acted as a saucy decoration. Marinette was caught between several different thoughts and emotions, but there was most definitely one that was dominating her brain currently.

_ Okay, now he’s just being a copycat.  _

Marinette knew this was futile, that they now stood in front of one another, nearly naked, with no prospect of actually making a move to reach one another’s lips. She was a little annoyed and more impressed than she’d expected to be that Adrien’s self-restraint was still intact, but at the same time she didn’t know what step to take next. She was literally in her  _ underwear _ , and it wasn’t as if she could take much else off at the moment without making things more than a little awkward. It was four in the afternoon in broad daylight and her boyfriend was nearly stuttering in anticipation. It also didn’t help that she had a bra to take off as well, whereas he had one less article of clothing than she did.

They were both suddenly  _ very  _ aware of the complete lack of clothing between them, and they looked one another up and down, soaking in the fact that they stood barely adorned in anything in front of each other, yet unwilling to kiss  _ at all,  _ ANYWHERE. Marinette was honestly more irritated at the situation than anything, but Adrien began to feel his resolve crumbles as he allowed himself to truly stare at his girlfriend in all of her beauty. 

_ Oh shit, her boobs--her boobs are right there--they’r’e so booby and nice and DAMN IT here comes Woody-- _

“Adrien, if you think the game is so ridiculous too, why don’t you want to kiss me?”

Marinette needed something; she knew what was going on at this point as clear as day, but she needed him to take the next step before she would risk even more drastic measures. She couldn’t exactly be much more obvious, but clearly she couldn’t skirt any longer.

“Well, I don’t see why you aren’t just kissing me!” he screeched back.

Adrien was slowly unfurling and Marinette watched it with frustration as she realized that perhaps breaking him would be much harder than she thought. The guy was crappy under pressure (or maybe just when he was turned on, but she hoped not for future endeavors) but she knew that if she said what she needed to say next, she’d give it all away and this would be for nothing. Unfortunately, it looked like she didn’t have any other choice.

“I thought you didn’t care about the contest anymore, Chaton?” Marinette said, and Adrien gazed down at her, shirtless and glorious and absolutely stunning but also the dork she fell in love with, when he gave her a look of pure disbelief. It was as if he thought she wouldn’t give in so easily, like he’d expected her to keep playing all the goods cards and he could follow up along with every play. This time, she’d finally played the wrong one and it had shaken him out of his anxious reverie.

“Aw Princess, it’s clear you don’t believe I really think that,” he played back, and his sultry Chat smile was back in full swing. Marinette  stepped away from him and crossed over to the other end of the couch, her arms folded over her chest. She was mentally bonking her head on the khaki-adorned television as he responded in his sassy tone, “And I  _ know  _ you don’t. I am, however, surprised to see that you’re beginning to warm up to the idea of losing.”

“ _ Excuse me _ ?” Marinette shot back, competition and strength creeping its way into her words, “How on  _ earth  _ do I seem anywhere close to losing right now? You followed every single one of my steps!”

“Well, we both seem to be in our underwear together--”

_ Oh NO,  _ Marinette realized too late, and she had already heard his words before they could even spill out of his mouth.

“--so it looks to me like you’re ready for our celebratory shoot,  _ My Lady. _ ”

Marinette’s blood was boiling as she looked between the two of them, Adrien in his bright blue boxers and herself, black bra and lacy blue panties practically screaming coordination.  _ Just her luck they’d having matching fucking UNDERWEAR.  _ She felt like bursting at the seams as she glared at Adrien’s shit-eating grin, and she felt the words spring to her mouth as fantastically as Adrien admired her with his clothing strewn behind him and his T-shirt in a mess across the room.

“Well, it sure looks to me like you were eager to start  _ stripping  _ as soon as I gave the go-ahead!”

She knew she had him. His eyes became glowing lasers, shooting across the couch at her in an attempt to reach some level of intimidation. Upon failing to do so, he copied her once more and crossed his own arms against his own chest, each of them staring the other down. 

The tension in the room between Adrien and Marinette was impossibly strong, and both of them as well as neither of them could tell if the heat was more from their rivaling attitudes and challenging actions or from their sexual tension that was currently soaring above the rooftops. They each glowered at one another, tracing their respective eyes down each other’s bodies like a vicious match, unable to tell who had the upper hand at all and looking ready to pounce in whichever way necessary--

“HEY LOVEBIRDS, how’s the contest going so f--”

Marinette and Adrien’s heads snapped toward the door that without warning had swung open and slammed shut again as Alya and Nino suddenly entered Marinette’s room. It was then with humor, shock, horror, and glee that the second couple gazed around and quickly assessed the situation before them, their eyes scanning over each piece of evidence like it was a block of gold. Alya was basically cackling without emitting a sound, and NIno looked both startled and a tad impressed at the damage they’d done and the possible restraint they had showed. They each finally dragged their eyes over to Adrien’s khakis hanging over the television, then finally in unison to stare at Adrien and Marinette, facing off on opposite sides of the couch in nothing but their underwear and looking as if they’d rather be anywhere else on the planet than discovered here in this place, in this condition. Alya’s smiled only grew larger as she turned her head to make eye contact with Nino then whipped back toward her best friends, a dauntingly mischievous look on her face.

“This is about to be legendary.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles happily* because this is JUST GETTING STARTED
> 
> expect a lot more of these shenanigans in 3-4 days! keep voting and commenting who you think should win and i'll comment the poll in the opening notes like i did with this chapter. next chapter we'll get some class bets going, a little more explanation as to how the photoshoots would work, and of of course sexual tension above the roof ;)


	3. the passion in fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adrien and marinette have to get creative to think of ways to seduce their partners, and fashion might be the answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO Y'ALL  
> did i really make you wait three weeks ?? of course i did, but i have excuses like working 45 hours/week and beginning the rough draft of my book, so you'll have to forgive me <3  
> BUT here i am again and i felt so bad i gave you a 7k update AND i am now almost two chapters ahead so there shouldn't be so long of a wait again!  
> the poll stands thus far:  
> Adrien: 16  
> Mari: 11  
> enjoy sinners!!!  
> ALSO A NOTE this fic has officially been changed to M for the constantly saucy shit in every new chapter and eventual (aka soon) SIN

Adrien Agreste loved Marinette Dupain-Cheng with his whole heart. She was the light of his life, the missing piece of his puzzle, and the chocolate to his milk (and that was  _ really  _ saying something, because when he was finally allowed to bulk up for his athletic photoshoots, his discovery of chocolate milk alone had made him gain eight pounds). Marinette was his everything. 

Marinette was also his biggest rival.

Of course there was Hawkmoth, the human possessor who wreaked havoc on Paris every few days and made his and Ladybug’s lives a living hell at times, but he was different. He was their supervillain and it wasn’t as if they had ever came out of a battle in loss. Sure, they hadn’t yet discovered his identity or his hideout, but by no means were his akumas ever really a match for Chat Noir and his Lady. He was nothing to worry about.

His perfect match, however, was all the rival he’d ever need in the world. She was strategic, cunning, impossibly fast and intuitive, and most of all, she knew absolutely every part of him. If someone were to ever be the end of Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng would reign supreme and before this challenge, he had quite honestly hoped that would be the case. 

He couldn’t let her win.

Adrien was scrappy, and while he picked up on things in a generally fast manner, he still fell prey to the well thought-out plans people threw at him. He was reactive but he was not necessarily successful at “keeping up.” If such a plan were to be formulated by his all-knowing partner and girlfriend....

He was already a goner.

But he’d gone a day, hadn’t he?

After the startlingly hysterical (in Alya and Nino’s opinion) walk-in the previous day in Marinette’s bedroom, the couple had frantically ran about the area in search of their various clothing articles while shouting astonished obscenities. In a hasty explanation to their best friends, they had gotten enough muddled words out to explain that “Adrien was playing stupid and his abs should be against the rules” as well as that “Marinette’s room was an unfair advantage and she used it as a trap.” To say the least, Alya and Nino as judges had ruled both of those absurd requests as dissatisfactory and lame.

Unfortunately, this left Adrien worried and in need of a plan of action.

It was 7:20 a.m. when the model finally arrived at the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and it was with a feeling of comfort that he opened the door and stepped into the establishment. Upon his entry he immediately saw Tom and Sabine, who enveloped him in welcoming smiles. Less than a moment later, Sabine hurried over to Adrien to engulf him in a bear hug.

“Good morning, sweetheart! How  _ are  _ you?”

Adrien loved Marinette’s parents in the way that one can only love the doting mother and father of a girlfriend. They were loving and warm and everything his father generally lacked. Tom and Sabine had taken him under their wing, invited him to family vacations, took him to breakfast and dinner, and were there to fill the void that he hadn’t accepted needed filling until they entered his life. This little trio of a family were unlike anything he could have ever dreamed having. Even if Tom had outwardly scared him at first (Adrien had of course passed the boyfriend test and Tom dropped the fakely frightening demeanor in minutes), they were more than he could ask for and yet another reason that Marinette’s presence in his life was the most wonderful part. She brought him more happiness than anyone could possibly deserve.

“I’m superb,” Adrien replied in a muffled voice, still talking from the shoulder of the short woman who spoke to him like a mother, “A little early today, unlike usual.”

“Didn’t sleep in today for once, son?” Tom chuckled, and Adrien’s eyes crinkled at the word he chose to always use when addressing Adrien-- _ son--, _ “That’s good, I think we excuse more tardies than we’re actually allowed to for you two!”

“Marinette is still upstairs.” Sabine said, then laughed for a moment, “To be honest, that girl is probably still asleep. Why don’t you go make sure she’s up and moving?”

“Absolutely!” Adrien responded, happy to wake his sleeping princess, “I’ll be back right away.”

Adrien strode over to the backdoor of the bakery leading into their home and gave a little wave before stepping through it. He walked through the short hallway and up the stairs until he reached the ladder leading into Marinette’s little area and bedroom. He listened momentarily for any sign of conscious life, but his ears came up with nothing. Adrien concluded that she was most likely still snoozing and made sure to quietly open the hatch to her room. He swung it up and open, and hoisted himself through the entrance with the fast, speedy grace of an alleycat. When he silently shut the trapdoor once more he finally looked up to her pink walls and bright pink bed, as well as the precious mound of Marinette swaddled in all of her blankets. It didn’t matter what time of year it was, Marinette  _ always  _ slept with her covers on. He saw her fan on her desk and mutedly laughed at her absurdity, the fan’s wind blasting toward her but engulfed from neck to toe nonetheless. 

Adrien crept over without a sound, years of practice making him absolutely silent, even without his leather suit to give him feline reflexes. Perhaps it was part of being Chat, but Adrien felt as though he gained many of the catlike traits in his human self as well (except for when he was being a goofy, flustered dork--but that was beside the point). He traipsed over to his slumbering girlfriend, and he could nearly feel his body liquefy as his heart melted when he approached her face just peeking out of the covers. 

Her freckles spread all over her nose and cheeks were dusted across her face like shimmering baby polka dots, looking as though they were sprinkled on by a baker as skilled as herself. Her dark, shiny hair was swept all around her pillow and appeared wavy as though shower dried from the night before. A light blush, perhaps from the heat of the room and her comforter, flushed the highest part of her cheeks giving their roundness a highlighted effect, and her black eyelashes ghosted over the pinkness. She was absolutely angelic, shining like the moon and vibrant even in her sleep. His heart ached for her, his body felt physically drawn to her like an invisible magnet, his fingers wanting nothing more than to lovingly trace the outline of those perfect cheeks and let her sleep for eternity if she needed it--

“Hmm..mmmn--”

Adrien realized all too late that she had breathed out a sigh a little too loud for such a light sleeper as Marinette, and he watched in adoration as her eyelids fluttered open to see him gazing down upon her, leaning against the wall.

“Adrien you fucking cat--”

Well, there was Morning Marinette  _ after  _ she woke up.

“Good morning, my beautiful purr-incess,” Adrien lilted, and his eyes shone at her arising figure with sweet, harmless love, “Your mother sent me up to check on you but it appears that you only needed my purr-esence to bring you to life. Aren’t we just the most purr-ecious?”

Marinette shot him a cranky look, her eyes rolling to the top of her head as she reached over to turn her fan off and move her face away from her face.

“I love you and everything, but waking me up to three unoriginal cat puns first thing in the morning is  _ not  _ your best move. Also, “purr” for all of them? Really?”

Adrien was about to counter back--something along the lines of “I have claw-some diversity”--but suddenly Marinette was throwing the rest of the covers off of her increasingly awaking form and Adrien’s fragile heart was spasming at the sight of his girlfriend because  _ shit Mari ya just hAD TO NOT WEAR PANTS TO BED-- _

“I mean--I’m really not--I’m just a cat--”

“Adrien, what is wrong with you?” Marinette asked, then suddenly she registered exactly  _ where  _ his glossed over eyes had wandered to. Immediately her grumpy mood was thrown away and she was instead overwhelmed with a sense of dominance because  _ that’s right she had forgotten to wear any pajama bottoms and… yup, that tank top was pretty stinking see-through. _

“Aw, Chaton, cat got your tongue again?” she gloated, and Marinette sat up out of her bed to glide over to Adrien’s increasingly lowered jaw and trace her finger along the edge of it. She wrapped her other hand around his neck and pressed herself against him, their foreheads touching and their chests pressed right up against one another in  _ quite the manner  _ and Adrien’s mind was abruptly short-circuiting since this just  _ really wasn’t fair. _

“Mari, I-- _ uh….” _

Before Adrien could say another word, she had slipped back out of his arms and sauntered toward her closet, seemingly rejuvenated by the energy of the morning and her little triumph over him. Adrien was still recovering from her closeness (and her _body_ ) by the time his eyes were able to register that she was now at the station where she changed into her everyday clothes. And in order for Marinette to put those clothes on, that meant she had to first take them _off_ …

In seconds, Adrien was entranced by what he was witnessing--what she was clearly making him witness--as his devious angel grabbed the hem of her sleep tank top and yanked it up over her head in a graceful motion,  _ much _ more graceful than either of them had the day before. Adrien’s eyes burned into the skin on the planes of her back, angular and muscular and stunningly attractive as she tossed her head over one perfect shoulder,  _ bit her lip,  _ and gave him a wink. 

“Adrien, I need to change but I’m sure neither of us mind if you’re here while I look for an outfit. I’ll be just a moment.”

Before he could even stutter a response, she began moving through her closet, perusing the hangers and tracing her fingers across her various materials. Adrien gazed at the sight before him (absolute  _ perfection _ ) with a sense of awe and enchantment, because  _ wow  _ that was the woman he got to love and she loved him  _ back.  _ Her shoulder length hair cascaded over the back of her neck and across the tips of her collarbones, covering the top of her back and Adrien would have grieved the absence of the view of her neck if not for the multitude of other delicious sights in front of him.

And yes he meant delicious. 

Marinette’s hips were soft and curved down toward her thighs in a fantastic way, accentuating the strong muscles of her thighs. She was lean and her legs were long, but they were cut with such definition that Adrien quite truthfully felt as if they had been sculpted just to accommodate the exact job she needed to perform every day as Ladybug (which, he supposed, most likely ended up being the case). In the other direction went her abs, and while he couldn’t see them, he could imagine them as his dilated pupils licked up the small of her back, taking in the sharp intake of her waist, her hourglass figure flawless in his eyes. They lingered for just a second too long on her flexing calves as she reached up on her tiptoes for a pair of shoes at the top of her closet, and then they settled onto her ass, gorgeously cute and round and wonderful and  _ when was the last time he got to dig his claws into that--? _

“Adrien, stop being a perv and do something useful,” Marinette smirked without turning her head to look at him. She kept searching for the right jacket as Adrien blinked furiously and snapped himself out of his reverie. He wasn’t embarrassed by any means, but he was definitely showing signs of weakness, “Go grab me a pair of jeans please?”

He leaped over to other side of the room, both desperate for a chance to escape and mourning the loss of the alluring sight before him. He pulled open the jeans’ drawer of Marinette’s dresser and, taking his time, found a perfectly plain pair of skinny jeans to give to her. He was almost safe--she HAD to be almost dressed by now--

“Kitten, could you pretty please throw me a bra?”

_ God damn this seductress. _

“Yeah Mari, hold on a sec--second.”

Marinette gave an airy laugh over from her closet door as grabbed the brush on her desk to begin combing the tangles out of her bedhead. She gave another humored glance over to Adrien fumbling through her underwear drawer, afraid to touch even a single one, and mumbled, “I love being the one not to stutter for once…”

 

***

 

“Okay, so I have a quick question.”

Marinette and Adrien had finally arrived at school. After Marinette deciding to completely dress herself and Adrien losing it perhaps another three or four times, they made it down the stairs to the bakery with enough time to eat a quick meal with Tom and Sabine and jet out the door. 

Upon arrival to the classroom, they had settled into their respective seats only to find that Alya and Nino had shared their alarmingly humorous information from the day before to most of their friends that appeared the most invested in the contest. 

“Go for it.”

“So,” Juleka replied, “How exactly does Marinette get to pick the theme of your underwear shoot? And how would you get to decide whether or not she was in it with you? Is that something you as a model get to actually choose?”

Adrien had expected this question coming from someone sooner or later, “Basically what happened was that my father recently came out with his newest underwear line. He’s had several before but they’ve always been modeled by other, older models since I wasn’t actually a legal adult and couldn’t do them. Now that I am, my father insists that I rep the  _ Gabriel  _ underwear line myself since I obviously am an Agreste. I, of course, refused, but then he got moody and then I got annoyed and we got into a fight and he finally agreed that I could decide how the shoot would play out and what it would entail as long as I went through with it. So it’s kind of all up to me,” Adrien laughed a little before finishing, “The first photoshoot I have actual influence in and it’s  _ underwear  _ of all things!”

“Okay, that makes much more sense,” Juleka responded, and pondered for only a moment more before asking, “But what if the kissing contest lasts until longer than this weekend? If it’s on Sunday like you said, that’s only five days away isn’t it?”

A confused look settled onto both Marinette and Adrien’s faces. They each expressed a sense of panic and curiosity. Did their classmates really expect them not to kiss for five more whole days? Was that even POSSIBLE? 

“Well, since I have free reign over the project, I’m sure I could push it back however long necessary,” Adrien mumbled, before his signature snarky look returned to his face, “But do you really all believe that  _ Marinette  _ can stand an entire five more days without kissing  _ this piece _ ?”

At his words, a look of incredulous outrage shot across Marinette’s features and she appeared ready to defend herself but before she could, Max jumped into the conversation.

“Actually Adrien, I’m for sure betting on Marinette. You are  _ so  _ whipped, I’m not sure you can last.”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to look shocked while Marinette burst into triumphant laughter and high-fived Max before crossing her arms across her chest in a stance of dominance, a smirk across her face. 

“Why do you think that?! SHE had the crush on ME forever before we even started dating!” Adrien exclaimed, needing to reestablish more form of height in the competition.

“That is true…” Kim inquired, and Marinette’s face faltered only a touch before he wrapped up the rest of his sentence, “but we could all tell you had gotten soft for her early on. It was only a matter of time that you two finally became official, and let’s be real. Once you got together it was as if you’d been head over heels for her for even longer than that.”

Classmates began to nod in agreement and a blush rose to Adrien’s face as he recalled just how true that statement actually was. He had been in love with his lady long before they started their official relationship, and he had definitely been in deep since day one.

“Whatever. I won’t deny my undying love for Marinette; that’s plain as day. BUT does everyone in the class really think I’m going to lose?”

“No, we’ve got your back!”

Marinette, Adrien, and their companions all turned toward the next voice only to find Rose, Sabrina, Nathaniel, and Alix all looking as if they had been in deep discussion only minutes before. They appeared to be on the same page as one another.

“It’s just  _ adorable  _ how much you love one another, but we just think Marinette will cave first. Adrien is sneaky and has enough self control to handle it,” Rose stated, and while Adrien felt comforted and reassured by their support in him, his ear lingered on the phrase “self control” just a hair too long.

“Thanks guys,” Adrien smiled and stuck his tongue out at Marinette, who scoffed. He tossed his head around lightly and then struck a classic model power pose to the others.

“And you’d BETTER hold up on that, Agreste,” inserted Alix loudly, sounding both threatening and good-natured all in one, “because I’ve already made bets on you. You CAN’T get weak on us.”

“Oh, that’s going to be rough!” Marinette’s silky voice suddenly intruded, and Adrien’s eyes shot to hers in an instant, both entranced as always and a touch wary, “I don’t even think he can last the whole  _ week _ \--”

“MARI WE SAID PUNS WERE  _ CHEATING. _ ”

 

***

 

After an obnoxiously hectic day of quizzes, assignments, a rushed lunch hour,  _ very  _ playful flirting, and a group study session with Alya and Nino, the superhero power couple was both incredibly exhausted and not yet finished with their respective days. Today was Adrien’s weekly fencing lesson (a sport he’d originally not been fond of because of his father’s insistence but one he’d grown to love) as well as Marinette’s scheduled designing night. The two had long since arranged specific days for specific activities due to their busy agendas (being the heroes of Paris  _ did  _ take its toll) so when they planned their extracurriculars and hobbies they generally organized them for the same days. 

Marinette was practically buzzing with excitement by the time she got to her sewing table at home that evening and her fingers were simply  _ itching  _ with anticipation at her nearly finished project. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was never normally a woman to procrastinate when it came to ideas.  _ However,  _ that never precisely meant that she was the most exceptional at finishing them out to conclusion. While she had many wonderful ideas (her pigeon hat NOT one she loved to dwell on), not every single project and design ended up meeting the final stitches. She had multiple half-finished jackets, leggings, and shirts scattered among her closet and while many came to completion, there were also many that never saw the light of day.

With the contest in play, there was  _ one  _ that immediately came to mind when she decided what to work on that Tuesday evening. But she was still a tad hesitant.

“Tikki, are you sure this isn’t too… obvious?”

Marinette swung her little red and black dress up onto her sewing area and shined her lamp on the many stitches that were yet to be completed. As for the fabric…

“Like I  _ told  _ you, Marinette, the suits have a sort of aura about them that makes you inconspicuous to those witnessing you under transformation. You’d think any person with brain would have figured out that Ladybug looked half-Chinese and wore pigtails every day, but no one’s connected the dots yet!” she giggled for a moment before poking Marinette’s nose and saying, “See what I did there? Connecting the  _ dots? _ ”

“ _ Ugh  _ you’ve been spending way too much time with Adrien and Plagg. Horrible pun,” Marinette groaned, but nuzzled her kwami with love nonetheless, “Okay. So you’re  _ sure  _ it shouldn’t be an issue? Like, no one will look at me and suddenly realize, ‘Oh my golly gracious my classmate Marinette is actually the yoyo-yielding bug in the sky that traps purple butterflies!’”

“Absolutely. You’re safe. No one even knows you and Chat are together since you aren’t an item to the public anyway. There are lots of covers to keep your identity hidden. Besides, the only person you should ever really be worried about is someone else with a Miraculous as well. And seeing as Hawkmoth is most likely not one of your teachers, and Chat Noir was the only human alive other than you  _ dumb enough  _ to see their partner every day for a year and not realize their literal  _ crush  _ was their other half, I think you’re good.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Okay! I guess I’m really doing this. I was waiting for a special occasion to make this dress, but I guess seducing my boyfriend and superhero partner of two years who I am not allowed to kiss is occasion enough.”

“That’s the spirit, Marinette!” Tikki cheered, “And I really do want you to win this contest. To rub a bet on human interaction as absurd as this one concerning our chosens in Plagg’s face would just be the  _ best _ !”

Tikki swerved around the room to happily nibble on a cookie by Marinette’s desk while her chosen spent one last moment pondering the consequences of her actions before making her decision.

“Well,” Marinette sighed, and held the dress up to the light once more to study her previously made sewing patterns before delving in, “Hopefully this weapon will do the trick.”

  
  


“PLAGG I NEED SOMETHING BRILLIANT.”

Adrien, having thoroughly exhausted himself after a fencing lesson, Chinese lesson, and scouring the kitchen for more Camembert for Plagg, was writing down any and all ideas that came to mind concerning the love of his life and making her fall for his seductive dorkiness. He was currently hitting rock bottom.

“ _ What if  _ I write her a song?”

“You can’t SING, dumbass.”

Plagg, to counter, was both being entirely unhelpful as well as enjoying every moment of making fun of Adrien’s helpless nerdiness. It was one of his favorite pastimes. He made sure to stay invested enough to give responses without caring  _ too  _ much.

“What if I get a spray tan? Spray tans are in, right? She’ll lose it at my ‘beach guy’ complexion!”

“No, she’ll  _ dump you  _ for getting a  _ spray tan _ .”

“Okay, yeah that’s true…”

Adrien was frantic, searching for any source of attractiveness that he could use against his Lady to make her stumble for him for  _ just  _ a moment and move in for a vulnerable and wonderful kiss before he tripped himself. He was searching his room for ideas, running through his closet for clothing, and rattling his brain for information about her he could use to win her over. He knew he’d eventually get weak despite his many years of waiting and flirting as Chat Noir, but it was still the most difficult prospect he may have ever come across: knowing what it was like to kiss and adore the woman he loved and not being allowed to. He was bound to slip up. But he knew she might too.

“ _ What if  _ I buy her a boat? Like a REAL boat?”

Plagg looked up from his pile of cheese and Garfield comic and gave Adrien a look of pure, genuine incredulity. While he loved his chosen more than he could actually fathom and recognized how intelligent he was (for a human), he sometimes was completely caught off guard by his cluelessness and airheadedness. 

“Chat. You are a  _ cat.  _ Not a real cat, but a cat by all means necessary. Do you really have the  _ audacity  _ to be STUPID enough to assume that you could seduce a woman--and not just any woman, but LADYBUG of all people--on a motherfucking BOAT.”

Adrien continued to look both stunned and confused for a moment more before Plagg deadpanned with a stare so entirely  _ done  _ he nearly jerked to his feet.

“YOU ARE A CAT, ADRIEN. A CAT. DON’T BUY A BOAT.”

Adrien’s brain finally seemed to click with the prospect, and when it did his whole body appeared to collect itself, finally becoming less frantic and beginning to process information more accurately. He took a deep breath and steadied his thoughts, bringing a hand to rest upon his forehead as he gazeed at Plagg with a look of sincere thankfulness.

“Of course. I’m just being crazy. No boats,” Adrien muttered, and came back to life as he spoke to his kwami, “But what are my actual options? The only thing I can really think of right now that actually  _ gets  _ to Marinette is when I’m still Chat Noir and she isn’t transformed. But it’s not as if I can just transform at school! And no one would appreciate hearing that Chat Noir kissed  _ my  _ girlfriend! Even though she’s technically  _ his  _ girlfriend too….  _ Ugh,  _ and none of our classmates would even believe that.”

Plagg took a moment to glance around his chosen’s out-of-proportion room and scale the perimeters. Adrien’s statement had absolutely been true; Ladybug was unbelievably caught off guard when Chat Noir brought his magic to her alternate human persona. The kwami was hatching a wondrous scheme, but it would be up to Adrien to follow through and make it happen. He already appeared to be on the right track, but this was something different entirely, something that needed to be executed perfectly and with careful steps.

“Okay Adrien, I am going to help you out for once in your sorry life because I would actually love to gloat over Tikki about  _ something  _ over the course of our millions of years,” Plagg stated, and when he saw Adrien’s look of intrigued hopefulness, he nearly cracked a feline smile, “You’re already thinking along the same lines I am, but really  _ think  _ about what you could do. As a complete human. Detransformed.  _ As a model. _ ”

It was as though the lightbulb lit up in Adrien Agreste’s mind for the second time that night, and he and Plagg shared a catlike look of understanding as Adrien rose up from his seat on his bed and wandered over to his closet. Plagg was right--there was most  _ definitely  _ a card he could play that would set him a step ahead. He just had to make all the right moves after as well. Before he began perusing, he pulled out his phone to text his girlfriend good night, and that he would have to meet her in class the next day instead of at her front door like usual. To his surprise, she responded quickly and accordingly, wishing him sweet dreams and sending little emoji kisses (but that was the same as always). After typing them right back, he pressed  _ send,  _ and went back to cascading through his massive closet with one specific article in mind.

_ Now where was that jacket…. _

 

***

 

It was a beautiful day Wednesday morning, and the clouds were few and far between when Marinette woke up to look out her window. After making absolutely sure she would wake up early that day, which included setting seven alarms, she checked the temperature outside to confirm the weather allowed for her scheme to play out. Checking her weather app and seeing no chance of rain as well as blue skies for the day, she dashed over to her bathroom to brush through her thick hair before turning on her curling iron. 

She was going to look  _ good  _ today, goddamnit. 

And she was going to seduce her boyfriend.

As long as everything would go according to plan, she truly thought she’d have him by the end of the day. She had strategized (like usual) and thought out a clear path of instructions to follow in her head that would determine how the day would go by and if she actually could get her boyfriend to kiss her. This was Plan A but there were, however, several things that needed to go correctly in order for Plan A to be a success. 

PLAN A: SEDUCTION BY FASHION (by Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Tikki)

__    1. Adrien Agreste must also be Chat Noir  _ _

_    2. Adrien Agreste must be up to at least 35% his usual horniness _

_    3. Adrien Agreste must NOT already have a maniacal plan in action _

_    4. Adrien Agreste must absolutely remember their closet spot _

 

Marinette felt fairly certain that Plan A would go by without a hitch seeing as most of the conditions were consistent and nearly certain. Numbers 1, 2, and 4 were all at least 99% guaranteed (she hoped to all the Miraculous Gods there ever were).  Number 3 would be the only wild card and she would have to cross her fingers that she remained one step ahead of this game at the moment. 

Her kitty, however, was always surprising her.

She finished her last curl with thirty minutes until her class began, and as she tied her locks into loose, luscious, midnight twintails, she looked at her reflection in the mirror with the confidence only Ladybug used to have. She felt pretty, powerful, and strong, and these were all qualities that despite knowing she might be--deep down--she could never let herself believe she actually was. At least, not until the two most wonderful people in her life morphed into one and suddenly it was as though she was able to as well. Ladybug and Marinette were now infinitely intertwined, and it was with that fantastic feeling of self-acceptance that she stared herself down in the glass with a sense of love for herself.

She felt  _ radiant. _

After brushing on her usual licks of mascara and dotting some pink gloss onto her lips to contrast the freckles scattered across her nose, Marinette left her bathroom to slip off her sleepwear and zip up the dress that she had so carefully and so anxiously finished creating last evening. It had taken several more hours, but the masterpiece that she had secretly indulged in for herself was finally ready for wear. She delicately pulled up the zipper on the side of the garment and buttoned the corner, before adjusting the waistline and giving herself a onceover. To finish the look, she slipped on a cuffed, black jacket and black booties on her feet to give the outfit another boost of  _ edge.  _ She looked into the mirror once more.

Marinette looked  _ hot.  _

To Adrien--to  _ Chat Noir-- _ Marinette would be irresistable.

She smirked to herself again and fixed her hair with a last curl before pecking a kiss on Tikki’s head and placing her gently in her little purse. She flitted out the door of her bedroom and graced down the steps of her home into the entrance of the bakery. Her mother and father were both in the back room when she bounced through the door, and she yelled a farewell to them each before snagging a breakfast pastry and jetting out the front door, backpack around one arm and food in the other. Careful not to get crumbs anywhere, she ate as daintily as she could while briskly walking to school.

Less than ten minutes later, Marinette had shuffled into her classroom only to find Alya and Nino already in their seats and Adrien nowhere to be found yet. Her mouth pulled into the smallest of frowns before she twisted around to face her best friends and Alya’s jaw dropped so sharply she could almost hear her jaw popping. Marinette shot her a little wink before prancing over to their desk and she could tell Alya was about ready to combust.

“GIRL. LIKE WOW. LIKE HOLY SHIT WOW. GLAD I’M NOT DOING THIS CONTEST BECAUSE I MIGHT ACTUALLY JUMP YOU. WHAT THE FUCK.”

It was a good thing the class hadn’t begun yet, because their teacher spun around at Alya’s outrageously loud cursing only to give her a pointed look before turning back to his desk. Alya gave a sheepish yet unforgiving grin before throwing her eyes back over to Marinette and her spunky attire.

“Thanks, Al. Think it’ll do the trick?” Marinette jokingly pondered, but also a little curious as to how her best friend would respond.

“Are you  _ kidding? _ ” Alya nearly yelled again, “I haven’t seen anyone this hot since Jagged Stone got an undercut. YOU, my dear, are the  _ epitome  _ of hotness. Nino, doesn’t she look  _ so fucking hot _ ?”

“Um, okay, so I don’t know what I’m more uncomfortable about at the moment,” Nino said nervously, pointedly looking at Alya in the face, “the face that you’re actually asking me how hot I think your best friend is--the one who is literally the sister I never had--or the fact that I truly think you’re about to leave me for her.”

“Babe, I love you, I really do,” Alya said back, touching his cheek with one hand while moving his bangs out of his face with the other, “But I think that if Marinette wore that dress every day I’d probably sell my fucking soul to the devil before I let Adrien have her without a fight. And we all know who would win in that fight. But like I said, love you to the moon and back.”

Nino’s look of shock and obscenity was too much for Marinette at that point, and she burst into heavy laughter just as the door of their classroom swung open once more. She was still recovering from leftover giggles by the time she turned to face the front of the classroom, and it took all she had in her not to physically gasp out loud at the sight in front of her. All signs of humor left her body as her eyes widened to the size of saucers and her stomach dropped faster than she could say “Chat Noir.”

Because there he was. Sort of.

There Adrien stood, with his usual modelesque grace and strength, but now with an entirely different air to him. His hair was rustled sporadically and wildly like he had recently been running through the wind at full speed. He had a hand on the back of his neck like he was getting too warm, and it was easy to see why. Adorning his chest was a tight black tank top fitted to his chest like it was formed around his skin, and on his legs were denim jeans, hugging his waist in  _ just  _ the right way. Marinette’s eyes latched onto his other hand, two of the fingers looped through the belt loop on his right hip, as he casually stood with an easiness he only wore so often in public. His stance was relaxed, playful, and enticing as Marinette’s gaze dragged up his legs and onto his--

_ Of COURSE HE’D PULL OUT THE FUCKING LEATHER JACKET. _

“Morning, Mari.”

Her body seemed to melt as the words uttered by Chat Noir exited through Adrien Agreste’s lips, and one of her hands went to curl the end of a pigtail. She watched as Adrien’s eyes snapped to trace the motion and when he brought them back up to meet hers, she peered through his bangs into his green eyes, dilated like a cat’s and brimming with fire, bright green flames licking up the sides of his pupils. It was only in that moment that she remembered what she herself was wearing and realized that they had had the  _ exact same fucking idea. _

_ Holy fucking sHIT LOOK AT MY GIRLFRIEND-- _

Adrien was in both heaven and hell simultaneously. He could feel the fiery lakes engulfing his entire being and soul and he loved every single second of it. He was submerged in Marinette’s figure before him, and the wonderfully  _ radiant  _ view was both the most gorgeous and the most horrifying thing he had ever experienced because he  _ couldn’t kiss her. _

Ladybug was standing right the FUCK in front of him, with her big beautiful eyes and her curly perfect twintails and her  _ red and black spots  _ splayed out before her in a fitted sundress and Adrien had never witnessed a more alluring sight in his life. She was all  _ legs  _ and  _ skin  _ and  _ perfection  _ and  _ Marinette  _ and  _ Ladybug  _ all in one and he had never seen someone as indescribably stunning.

_ Great, here comes the boner again-- _

“Morning, Adrien.”

Her words were like satin in his ears, surrounding his mind and fogging up his thoughts. She was  _ intoxicating  _ and yet she was still ten feet away from him. His eyes now scoured every inch of her, hungrily taking in every aspect of her outfit in full appreciation. Oh he couldn’t wait to hike up that fantastic dress and--

Nope.

She was winning. She  _ knew  _ it. Because they had had precisely the same plan, and Adrien was sure she was strategizing even more than he was. While he had a general idea of what he could put on the table, he knew Marinette was more organized and had absolutely arranged a way for him to give in. He needed to be cautious. He needed to be  _ strong. _

“Shit, I  _ actually  _ think they might maul each other.”

Marinette and Adrien each broke from their respective trances and shot looks at Nino, who had humorously pointed out the glaringly obvious. Alya was looking both impressed and full of glee at the effort to which they had each put in to entrance the other, and from underneath Nino’s arm, she began to cackle.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooooo...  
> CAN YOU FEEL IT.  
> we have fluff, love, sin, and a lot more where that came from on its way!  
> please comment and keep voting for your winner of the kissing contest; if you haven't yet voted, please do!!  
> the next chapter is proooobably one of the sauciest things i've written so bear with me.  
> and it will be coming sooner than you think! ;)


	4. closets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adrien and marinette are finding it pretty difficult to focus when both they planned to seduce the other by dressing up as their alter ego. pep talks and closets ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone so we're going to pretend that i didn't just take a five month absent period from this fic and instead rejoice in the fact that we now have something more akin to M related content as well as YES a new chapter!! the tally stands at:   
> Adrien: 21  
> Marinette: 17 (omg Mari you're catching up!!)
> 
> thanks for all your wonderful feedback on the last chapter and i hope you enjoy this one ;)

_ Searing. The only word she could use to describe him was searing.  _

_ His chest was broad and warm as he pressed up against her, backing her against the wall. His hair fell raggedly about his face and grazed her as their foreheads touched, and his hot breath against her cheek and ear were absolutely  _ **_intoxicating._ ** _ She felt utterly drunk on him, on  _ **_Adrien,_ ** _ as he took her wrists in his hands and pushed them against the wall, pinning her. She breathed him in deeply and then let out a gasp as he swooped in and pressed a fiery, openmouthed kiss to her neck.  _

_ As he moved against her, she squirmed in pleasure and drank his essence. His skin was aflame, and she revelled in his beauty--his rustled hair by her cheek, his muscled arms locking her in place, and that wonderful, wonderful skin… _

_ Suddenly, Marinette jerked and twisted her head to the side as Adrien began tracing his tongue along the length of her collarbone. She caught sight of his face as he teased her, and when she locked eyes with him, Adrien grinned the most toothy, Chat Noir smirk she had seen since their last patrol, and  _ **_bit down_ ** _ on the expanse of her skin. He was pure animalistic feline, and Marinette briefly imagined what Alya might say if she ever told her that she loved when Adrien was so…  _ **_carnal._ ** _ Of course, she could never know why he became so overwhelmingly catlike. That was their little secret…. _

_ Marinette was having trouble keeping it together as Adrien put more delicious weight against her, moving and kissing and then  _ **_sucking_ ** _ on even more areas of her surrounding skin, and she let out a light moan as he let go of one wrist keeping her in place and shifted his whole body up to tower of her once more. Never once did he release the seal of his lips from her skin, but chose instead to put his own hand against the wall behind her, still keeping her intoxicatingly close and entrapped by his larger body. He finally drew back for just one moment to examine their position and his girlfriend’s positively buzzing state, and locked eyes with Marinette. She met his with equal parts lust and excitement as she bit down on her bottom lip slowly and took a deep breath in, chest rising.  _

_ Adrien wasted no more than a second to immediately capture her lips with his in a frenzy, and within the next moment, he had lifted her up to press her even harder against the wall of the small room, her legs wrapping around him and her skin feeling like absolute fire against his hiked up T-shirt. She tasted like lavender and her smooth skin was just  _ **_luscious._ ** _ Marinette was making his insides melt and then harden (in more ways than one) back up again, driving him to a nearly feral state of want. She was everything. She was everything and more at every moment of every day.  _

_ And at this moment, he wanted her.  _

_ Marinette’s hands were tangled in Adrien’s hair, stroking her fingers through his locks and tracing down the back of his neck. Adrien’s hands were partially holding her against the wall in place and partially pressing into the fabric of her tank top at her waist. There was such little room between them she had no hope of slipping. Within minutes, Adrien’s fingers had dipped into the waistband of Marinette’s skirt, and was teasing the skin of her hips in a way that was making her more than frustrated. She let out a sharp gasp at the touch. _

_ “Adrien, I swear to God--” _

_ Adrien smirked again against her kiss, and he lustfully nipped at her bottom lip, dragging it toward him in a manner than had her wanting his lips anywhere and everywhere. He was loving every second of having her bothered and she was too horny at this point to care. _

_ “Oh--feel free to swear, My Lady.” _

_ With those words whispered against her neck, Adrien ground against her, wonderful pressure pushing her against the hard wall behind her, and she let out a wrecked whimper. Adrien’s eyes were ready to roll to the back of his head as he watched her come undone pressed up against him. He couldn’t control himself when he saw the way she reacted and snatched up her lips once more, kissing her deeply along with another grind of his hips.  _

_ She was a wonderful, wound-up mess underneath him, and both of them wouldn’t have it any other way.  _

_ They kissed slowly along with the movement of their bodies, and gradually Adrien moved to kiss down her neck and nibble on her earlobe as well. She was putty beneath him and he was so absolutely obsessed with every aspect of the situation, he didn’t think he could wait much longer. By the noises she was emitting as well as the new curse words, she definitely couldn’t.  _

_ “Adrien, I love you dammit but you can  _ **_move it along_ ** _ \--” _

_ And suddenly she let out a mix between a shaking breath and a whimpered cry as Adrien’s fingers slipped under the band of her underwear. He was just inches away from the place that would make her really curse, and at that moment-- _

 

“Marinette! Keep yourself  _ to-fucking-gether _ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE.”

Marinette was abruptly snapped out of her reverie as Alya waved a frantic hand in front of her eyes and scream-whispered furiously into her ear. Her best friend looked both impressed and distressed as she saw the way that Marinette was  _ very clearly  _ suffering in silence next to her. To Marinette’s immediate left sat Adrien, and they both were acting as though they couldn’t touch one another without scalding themselves. They sat a good three feet apart, but it was clearer than day that they were drawn toward every little portion of one another. Adrien’s legs were facing Marinette, and her own knees were laid over the side of her chair, feet away but in his overall direction. They each had a shoulder turned toward the other, and Marinette seemed to be drifting in and out of focus--a few moments on their class, and the next few  _ minutes  _ on her boyfriend, a look of complete desire in her eyes.

Adrien, however, was no better. To Nino, he looked much worse: breathing deeply, running a hand through his hair, refusing to take more than one eye off of some aspect of Marinette, and looking tortured every time she so much as acknowledged his presence next to her. And  _ Nino couldn’t give him a pep talk because he wasn’t sitting next to him!  _

Nino had underestimated the cleverness of his best friend, but he also hadn’t expected Marinette to come in with such a big move. It was common knowledge to their friends that Marinette and Adrien were  _ big  _ Ladybug and Chat Noir fans. It was as if the two of them just let each of their little crushes go when it came to their significant others, and they both seemed completely content and without jealousy when he or Alya brought the two superheros up. He supposed the couple had discussed it, and they were each just on one another’s freebie list or something.

For Marinette to pull this move alongside Adrien made the table balanced. They were shooting each other the same line, and it was quite honestly a matter of who stayed stronger.

Adrien was completely and ultimately screwed.

_ She was Ladybug _ , right there in front of him! There was obviously no mask and no actual spandex, but this was as close to the real thing as it was possible to get and it was more delicious that he could ever have fathomed. She was a vision, in a short, red and polka-dotted sundress with her pigtails curling around her shoulders just like her alter ego. It was hot to begin with, but she had added even another edge of pure Ladybug to the ensemble with the cuffed, dark jacket and the black booties. He couldn’t stop  _ staring  _ at her legs. The lean, long muscles flexed when she moved and the expanse of skin that he burned to run his hands up and down was something he had only dared to dream of seeing on Ladybug before. And without her mask, she was the enticingly perfect blend of the two women who had captured his heart, Marinette and Ladybug.  _ God,  _ this his damn FANTASY. And he couldn’t do a thing about it. 

_ Oh lord, now she’s biting her lip. Mari, stop it I’ll combust. Wait, totally keep doing it, I will treasure this moment for eternity. SWEET JESUS I CAN’T TAKE THIS-- _

 

Marinette was utterly fucked. 

Adrien had sauntered into the room like her fairytale bad boy. She had been in love with Adrien for forever, but the Chat Noir side of him was something that made her lose control. To have her two favorite guys be the same was enough, because she experienced them in one another every day. To  _ see  _ it and to  _ have it visually IN FRONT OF HER  _ was unfair play. Adrien was her sweet, obnoxious gentleman who she would always associate with his sweet side. Chat was a part of him every day, but there was something about him when he was transformed that was so purely  _ wild  _ and  _ adventurous  _ that she found herself up for anything and utterly reinvigorated. He made her  _ buzz.  _ And now here they both were: Adrien Agreste, kindhearted model extraordinaire, wrapped up in the leather of his other self, giving off the air of pure fervor and appearing completely  _ untamed.  _ His hair was all rustled up as if he had been running, and his chest was as broad and  _ black  _ with his shirt and jacket and  _ WOW HERE COMES MY LEATHER KINK IN FULL FUCKING BLOOM-- _

Neither of them could tell if it was lucky or unlucky that at that moment the bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. They both shot up out of their seats, respectively flustered, and stared the other down while still gaping in awe and unable to gather conversation. This was a game of lust. 

And at the moment, there was a LOT of lust between them.

Before either of them could make a single move, their respective judges snatched them each by the wrist and dragged them through separate exits of the classroom. Alya was  _ not  _ about to let Adrien get to her girl, especially just by some ridiculous kink she should have figured he’d pick up on sooner or later.

Marinette was so caught off guard by the sudden change in atmosphere that she barely registered the door being open and closed until she was standing against the counter of the girl’s restroom with her best friend. She had been dragged into the room as a refuge and to be given a pep talk, and Marinette could already tell that Alya knew she was in more trouble today than any of the other days so far. 

“Girl, you have to stay  _ STRONG.  _ It’s just leather. You can do this.”

Marinette finally focused on her and found Alya looking distressed but unforgivingly supportive. Of course. She reciprocated by giving her an expression that screamed both  _ desperate  _ and  _ are you fucking kidding me  _ before letting herself actually respond.

“Alya, you don’t get it. He’s playing into my  _ kinks.  _ This is DISASTROUS. I might be DOOMED.”

“No! You’ve absolutely got control of the situation,” her friend shot back, although Marinette wasn’t convinced in the slightest, “You need to channel that Ladybug power you’ve got going on today because that’s the  _ whole point.  _ He may have dressed to your kink, but you totally did it too! And you did it  _ better.  _ And! We all know Chat Noir has got a thing for Ladybug, so you’ve got to  _ act like it.  _ Role play without the actual sex or something. Reverse role play! OMG, that’s going on my blog….”

As Alya drifted off, Marinette actually thought her words over. She wasn’t wrong. Even though the world only knew of Chat Noir’s ministrations for Ladybug, he still definitely liked  _ her  _ first. She could use this to her advantage, at least for today. True, it had been several years since she actually had to push back one of his gestures, but she was fucking  _ Ladybug _ . Ladybug was incapable of anything. Especially  _ not  _ kissing her boyfriend. This was totally doable.

Even if her boyfriend was Chat Noir.

“All right, Alya. I think I have a plan.”

  
  


“Adrien, I need you to keep it together, okay? It’s the same girlfriend you’re already obsessed with, except she’s wearing a different outfit. You’ve got this in the palm of your hand.”

Adrien looked up at Nino as if he had just sang the periodic table backwards (he could at least do it forwards) before shaking his head in a crazed manner. He had nearly succumbed to his fate already.

“Yeah, she’s the same girlfriend that I’m already about to lose it with  _ every moment of every day.  _ Nino, I am not cut out for this--this was a BIG move. I thought I was being all “spicy” and everything dressing in leather since she’s into Chat Noir, but I have no upper hand since she did the same thing! With LADYBUG. She knows this is my ultimate downfall. Nino, I’m gone.”

Nino observed his best friend before suddenly grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him in order to force him to face him. He took a deep breath and gestured for Adrien to do the same. They both inhaled and exhaled twice before Adrien finally settled down and Nino sat up, forcing him to do the same.

Nino let go of him slowly and looked him in the eyes.

“Okay, now that you’re  _ sane again,  _ I want you to think about it. Today might not be the easiest day for you. It’s also probably not the easiest day for  _ her.  _ Use that to your advantage. Do what you need to do to let her fall in, but when the moment is needed  _ most,  _ be a little stronger. That’s the key. I can’t tell you HOW many times Alya has tried some new sex thing where I have to--”

“ALRIGHTY I think I’ve got it,” Adrien interjected, then once Nino had stopped his ramble, he looked at him once more, “For real, I think that helped. I don’t necessarily think I can do much in terms of strategy today, but if she falls into her own trap then maybe that’s strategy enough.”

“Exactly!  _ There’s  _ the Adrien that’s here to win. Now go out there and  _ make that girl kiss you _ .”

  
  


It was proving harder than expected now that they were in the same room again.

Adrien and Marinette were once more in close proximity as they sat next to one another in their assigned seats in math. They were closer than they had been before, and it was only moments before the tension began to rise. What on earth was someone supposed to say to their significant other while in an attempt to get them to kiss them whilst also  _ unable  _ to kiss them? 

Adrien decided he should go for it. He knew he should attempt to lay on a move. A move without intentions. Well, at least  _ much different  _ intentions than usual. He leaned in toward his girlfriend just a touch, and when she noticed his shift, he settled a small smile onto his face.

“Mari, you sure do look like a  _ princess  _ today.”

Her eyes shot over to meet his and his vision nearly tunnelled when he saw the big, blue eyes stare  _ hard  _ into his own. Ladybug-- _ Marinette _ \--looked aggressive but vulnerable, a mixture that could obliterate him in seconds. He needed to keep cool. 

Marinette responded in a mere second, “Oh you  _ handsome boy _ , are you sure I don’t seem like someone other than your princess today?”

She knew what she was playing, but they surely couldn’t say their other names (and pet names) here.  _ Even if they were obviously and actively trying to recreate their attires to goad one another on in public. _

Adrien shot her a wonderfully snarky and stunning Chat grin, and he could actually  _ hear  _ her breath leave her lips when she sighed at it.  _ Wait, don’t look at her lips-- _

“Princess, you seem rather adventurous today. Are you trying to get at anything?”

With those words, Marinette smiled and his heart nearly melted down into the pit of his stomach. She looked down and breathed hard again, then lifted her head back up so that she could glance at him from underneath her dark eyelashes. She brought the hand that had been currently resting on her lap up to touch his shoulder, clothed in the leather of his jacket, and gave his bicep a little squeeze before leaning up to whisper in his ear.

“You’ll have to see. Meet me in our closet after next period,  _ Kitten _ .”

It was the quietest voice she could have possibly used, and the heat that emitted from her mouth and onto the skin of his neck made Adrien’s senses go wild. He had to clench his chest and ball his hands into fists in order to keep from leaning any further into her, and he shut his eyes so that they could roll all the way up for the smallest period of time. As she brought her lips back down from his ear, he opened them once more and relaxed as silently as he could, his racing pulse already coming down.

_ Their closet. _

He had already been having fantasies about their closet without her bringing it up, but now she actually wanted to  _ meet  _ in there? When they couldn’t kiss? That was their “I’m in sexual distress and we’re currently at school and we can’t do anything without getting caught but hey what about the closet no one ever uses” closet. The one that they used more regularly than they probably should. He knew well enough that this was another trap, that Marinette had no intention of letting the contest go and she was setting him up for seduction once again.

But what had Nino said?

Maybe he should go. He  _ really needed  _ to go, if he wanted to use this chance to win. He could go along with it, get worked up, let  _ her  _ get worked up, then at the last minute not give her what she wanted. It was as foolproof as Adrien could get today.

Suddenly, Marinette shifted in the seat next to him and shrugged her shoulder so that she could remove one sleeve of the jacket she was wearing. She slipped one side away from her body, then pulled the other until the garment fell from her back and settled into her chair. The blood all rushed from Adrien’s head as he stared at Ladybug, her shoulders  _ bare  _ and  _ beautiful  _ and  _ freckled  _ and  _ oh god the boner again.  _

_ It’s hardly foolproof, dumbass,  _ a little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Plagg muttered, but before he could back out, he made the decision. He would go. He would use this opportunity to  _ win.  _ Then after she lost, he would kiss her like there was no tomorrow.

  
  


She was going to win.

Marinette’ idea had spun, interestingly enough, out her memory from earlier that day. She knew she could seduce Adrien, knew that nothing made him come undone like Ladybug, and that to give him an excuse and a secluded place would be his undoing. He loved being reckless and like Chat, so sneaking around and using their secret place would be too much of a thrill for him. And to have her dressed as Ladybug to greet him there as well….

Marinette was confident. She officially had the cat in the bag. 

But where was he? She had told him to meet her in their closet after the following class period, which had finished almost five minutes ago. It was a short walk from his physics classroom, which meant he was either talking with Nino, asking his professor some sort of question, or….

Perhaps he was too afraid to come? It had seemed like he was enthusiastic about her idea for whatever reason, despite knowing clear as day that it was a plan. There was a large chance that he wouldn’t be able to resist and Adrien himself knew this, but she figured he would want to come anyway, at least curious enough to meet her in their place and discover her plan of action, her strategy--

“Hey Mari! Sorry, I got--um--held up? In class, yeah, I got held up!”

In the span of only a second or two, the door of the small art closet had flung open and swung shut silently again, Adrien slipping in as sneakily as a cat might. His voice, barely above a whisper, was flustered and nervous and exactly how she had anticipated it being and she revelled in his dishevelled, Chat-like appearance. She threw him a smile showing her teeth, and shifted toward the wall at the opposite side of the closet. The small room left little area to move around, and she decided then to press completely against the back wall, giving Adrien a view of her entire body and leaving the remaining several feet of space between them. She let her hands rest upon the hard wood behind her, and Adrien’s eyes followed Marinette with every move.

“You’re fine, Kitten,” Marinette said back, and at the sound of his superhero nickname he nearly shuddered, “I figured you were in class still.”

Adrien examined her, making sure he had time to assess her stance as she stood by the shelf merely three feet away from him in the dark, cramped room. He tried not to sound suspicious as he spoke.

“Any specific reason you wanted to meet in here today?”

Marinette knew her wording was important. This was seduce or bust, “No  _ reason,  _ really. I just  _ missed  _ you and wanted to let you know how much I appreciate that outfit you’ve got on today.”

Adrien gulped, but collected his head. Normally at this point in the conversation, he’d already have her backed up against the closet wall, taking the breath from her lungs and kissing her into oblivion. Now, he needed to let it play out. He would go along her antics, let himself do whatever he needed to do, and save himself at the last possible minute.  _ Play along. _

“I’ve missed you too, My Lady,” Adrien purred back, and he took only one long stride to reach her, pinning her to the wall without actually using his hands and instead letting them graze along her sides, their chests touching in the most wonderful way. He could actually  _ feel  _ her heartbeat pick up and he had to remind himself that it was okay if she noticed that his did too. It was all part of the plan, of course. “I haven’t gotten to  _ really  _ let you know yet either, but I just adore that getup you decided to make. It fits every part of you  _ purr-fectly. _ ”

Usually Marinette was not too affected by PUNS of all things. But in this setting, with Chat lined up against her, hands toying with her waist and her body  _ reacting  _ to him, she was nearly putty in his fingers as she let him nestle against her. She knew she was getting to him but he hadn’t shown any sign of restraint, which was clearly suspicious. Was he planning another counterattack? She was supposed to be in charge!

_ All right, time to step it up a notch. _

“You think so?” Marinette said softly, and she twirled a ringlet of her dark curls as she grabbed Adrien’s right hand in her left. She gave his fingers a sweet little squeeze in an attempt to let him feel comfortable and safe with her at that moment. He calmed just a notch, but still looked at her expectantly, as if he knew she was waiting to make her move. That  _ was  _ how she worked after all. 

“I think I’d much rather have us  _ fitting  _ somewhere else.”

Then, without any warning, Marinette lifted his hand up to her mouth. For a split second, Adrien miraculously thought she was going to reverse their usual roles and kiss his knuckles, but he knew as well as she did that that would result in her losing the contest. Instead, she brought two of his fingers up to her mouth and without involving resembling a kiss, she sucked on the tips of them in the most sensual manner she could. 

To say Adrien was caught off guard was an understatement. 

Marinette looked him in the eyes as she swirled her tongue around his fingertips, then sucked down to reach halfway down his knuckle. She gave one of his fingers a little bite, and Adrien almost lost it then and there. Rather than kissing her, however, he chose to press his body all the way against hers and then use his other hand to slide along the edge of her bottom, barely covered by the soft cotton of her dress. It was heaven and hell in the same little closet.

Marinette let his fingers go with a little “pop” and gazed into his lustful eyes, her own no different. It was pure  _ torture  _ to have him like this, knowing he was hers, and not being able to do anything about it, but before she could say another word, Adrien had put his hand back by her side, now pushing against her ribs, and was grinding into her. Marinette let out a startled gasp as he leaned into her, and she shut her eyes in pleasure as she felt heat layer throughout her body and settle into the pit of her stomach. She had  _ not  _ prepared for this, but she now foolishly realized that she should have (Adrien could pop a boner before she  _ blinked) _ . But she needed to let him think this was happening--to  _ convince  _ him that she was going to let this happen before he came to his senses. He was  _ clearly  _ very hot and bothered right now.

She let out a breathy laugh as she leaned her head back against the wall and rolled her body, grinding back into him. The small amount of fabric covering his jeans and her underwear was beginning to make it unbearable for either of them keep their lips away, and Adrien (in an attempt to keep his fake cool) chose to instead nuzzled his nose into her neck. 

And Marinette was getting very impatient. 

“SERIOUSLY just get it over with so we can KISS ALREADY DAMMIT.”

Adrien, in response to her second hip roll and outburst, could see that his and Nino’s plan was actually  _ working.  _ There was little else he could do at this point, but her idea had backfired, leaving Adrien a mess in front of her, although less of a mess than she was proving to be. Another thought popped into Adrien’s subconscious and only seconds later did he decide to act on it. She was unpredictable enough now that just one more small thing might set her off and then  _ holy shit he might actually win.  _

Adrien pressed into her even harder, and then chose  _ not  _ to kiss her but instead to  _ bite  _ her, using only his teeth and none of his lip. He fathomed that there was no actually rule-breaking here as this was technically  _ not  _ a kiss, but he needed her to get frustrated beyond his own point. 

The ball was back in his court.

Marinette moaned and turned her neck to the side to give him more access, and Adrien took the opportunity to tilt her head back toward him to face him head on. With his other arm he whipped off his leather jacket lightning fast and her eyes were immediately drawn to the  _ tight  _ black T-shirt he adorned underneath it. Suddenly his strong arms had her own pinned up above her head, and she was reminded yet again of the last time they had been in this closet.

But that time, he’d been able to KISS HER.

“Adrien,  _ please,  _ come on  _ Chat--” _

He loved it when she spoke like this during their sessions, and when she said his miraculous name Adrien was just a touch away from giving in. But then he remembered his advantage. He was Chat Noir. He was Chat Noir and no one in Paris even knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir were together. They’d had real life practice with this. 

He’d had practice. And for  _ longer. _

But she was Ladybug, his ultimate Kryptonite. And she still wasn’t moving.

And he really wanted her.

_ God dammit, be stronger than you are in the suit, YOU CAN DO IT. You’ve done it for years--you’re a fucking superhero you can defeat villains but once you get just a little horny-- _

“SHIT Mari.”

At those words, Adrien completely pulled away from her, his chest heaving and highlighting his muscles as he ran both his hands through his wild, mussed up hair. He couldn’t do it. He knew his limit and he knew that when he had her in that position, she wouldn’t give in. 

When he looked up at her once more, she was still leaning back against her wall of the closet, neck red from his bite mark and skin flushed from the leftover heat of his body. Her head pressed against the wood behind her, as though she was still leaving her jaw exposed for him in case he changed his mind. She wasn’t cool by any means, but she still stood there as though she dominated the arena, chest heaving with something akin to the adrenaline felt during a fight and blue eyes blazingly heavy. They bored into Adrien as he ran a hand through his already wild hair and she bit her bottom lip tantalizingly as she turned her head to the side, bangs falling to the side and making her look even more unobtainable than ever. 

After a few more seconds of silence, Marinette let go of her lower lip and drew her mouth into a calculating smirk as she lifted herself to stand straight up. She never broke eye contact from Adrien as she leaned down to retrieve her jacket from the ground and proceeded to slide it back onto her arms and around her body. He watched as she took the few steps forward she had left to reach him, then smirk again.

“You did better than I thought, Kitty. I might have to actually start trying now.”

With those words, she brought her hand up to his black shirt and ran a hand down his chest, breathing deeply as she felt the muscles of his abs flex under her touch. She took a moment to bunch the fabric in her hand before letting go and quickly slipping out the door of their closet, her footsteps nearly silent as the door shut once more.

Adrien’s eyes widened then closed as he let his body fall back against the closed door and took one more deep breath before opening them once again. He stayed still as he replayed the last twelve minutes in his head over again, details of Marinette and the way she spoke reverberating in his mind. There was no way around it; what she had just said was bullshit. She had definitely put effort into this. He was still in it.

It wasn’t the end of the war, but he had known when to retreat from the right battle.

  
  
  
“Excuse me Marinette,  _ what the FUCK is on your neck _ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp looks like someone's in trouble.......  
> thank you all for your wonderful support and as always, i love and appreciate comments so so much!! if you haven't yet or you want to again, vote for which dork you want to win the kissing contest!   
> aaaaaand because i was an asshole and made you wait so long for chapter 4, chapter 5 will be here within the week :)

**Author's Note:**

> and the kissing contest begins! i live off of comments so feel free to let me know what you thought :) also VOTE FOR WHO YOU WANT TO WIN i will keep a poll as well as any ideas for these dorks to attempt to seduce one another. thank you so much! the next update will be in three days


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